 |
|
AFP Photo/HO/ISIL
|
The United States government is tracking as many
as 300 Americans supposedly fighting with Islamic State, the jihadist group
with a heavy presence in parts of Syria and Iraq, according to senior US
officials.
Washington is worried that
radicalized foreign fighters could become a risk to the US if they return to
employ skills learned overseas to carry out attacks, anonymous US officials
said, according to the Washington Times.
“We know that
there are several hundred American passport holders running around with ISIS in
Syria or Iraq,” a senior US official said. “It’s
hard to tell whether or not they’re in Syria or moved to Iraq.”
Past reports have put the possible number of
Americans who have flocked to the fundamentalist extremist group Islamic State
(IS, also known as ISIS and ISIL) at around 100. IS, a former Al-Qaeda
affiliate, gained strength fighting Bashar Assad’s forces in the Syrian civil
war before turning to cross the border into Iraq, where they have made swift
gains in western and northern sections of the volatile country.
No comments:
Post a Comment