Hawzah News Agency-Addi Abbas Sabhan , 24 is a confessed recruiter for the ISIS who helped plan and execute a devastating suicide attack on the city of Kirkuk last month that left 80 people dead and a population terrified.

"I was not recruited in a mosque, IS approached guys in the streets," he said under the watchful eyes of his jailers. "I earned $30 a month when times were good. IS promised $150 a month. When I pledged allegiance, I did it for the money, not for the faith."

"I was recruited at the beginning of 2014, a few months before IS took Mosul, by men of the emir, Abu Islam al-Iraqi," he said. "They said they would defend our families and guarantee them a life of dignity. I had to help my mother to feed my four brothers.

Sabhan said his recruiters fomented these frustrations among his community, and within months began to speak of sacrifice in the name of jihad, of the need to kill the infidels - and false Muslims - in the name of holy war.

"They wanted to teach us about martyrdom. They said: 'Kill for us and you are rewarded paradise'. We were all very young; it is easier to persuade [youths] to sacrifice their lives for an idea."

"It was a demonstration of strength. It was their way of claiming presence in the country," he said. "They knew it would be a losing attack, they knew they would lose dozens of men, but a few days after the start of military operations on Mosul, they wanted to demonstrate their ability.

IS attacked several areas of Kirkuk before peshmerga soldiers were able to respond (AFP)

The Kirkuk attackers came from Hawija, including the "emir" Abu Islam al-Iraqi, who was arrested on 24 October along with nine other militants.

According to Iraqi intelligence, IS has at least 1,500 fighters in the city and surrounding villages.

All IS militants captured after the Kirkuk attack now face the death penalty. Sabhan says he would never have managed to blow himself up, and that he wanted to run away and abandon IS, but he was afraid of retaliation.

"I repent," he said several times during the interview. "I have killed, but I repent." When asked if he was afraid of what may happen next, he said: "Of course. Everyone is afraid of dying."

A final word comes from the Kurdish officers: Militants like Sabhan are experienced, dangerous and highly trained killers who spin tales of woe when caught.

“When we arrest them," he told, "they want to portray themselves as repentant and manipulated. They are nothing of the sort."