900 French citizens fighting in Iraq and Syria
Despite efforts to discourage French people from joining militant groups, the figures show the numbers of French youth leaving continue to grow
France's top security official says nearly 900 French citizens have gone to Middle East battlegrounds and some have joined the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Despite efforts to discourage French people from joining militant groups, the figures given Wednesday by Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve show the numbers of French youth leaving continue to grow.
“There are today nearly 900 from France who are part of this phenomenon, either in the theater of operations in Syria or in Iraq. There are presumably some in Iraq because the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, which recruited them, takes them to all the places where it is engaged in combat,” Cazeneuve told France Info radio.
Security officials fear European militants will ultimately turn their skills against their homelands.
Also Read
-
Thousands from Iraq minority flee to Syria
About 56 children died in the mountains, Juliette Touma of the U.N. children's agency estimated. Features -
Female Kurdish reporter killed in Iraq conflict
Deniz Firat was hit in the heart by shrapnel during an attack by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria fighters Television & Radio -
U.N. warns against oil trading with ISIS
Security Council expresses grave concern over reports that radical militants have seized oilfields and pipelines in Syria and Iraq Middle East -
French foreign minister arrives in Baghdad
Fabius scheduled to fly to Erbil following talks with Iraqi foreign minister in Baghdad Middle East -
ISIS militants seize wheat from state silos
Director General of the Grain Board of Iraq said ISIS tried to sell wheat stolen from Nineveh back to the government in other provinces Middle East -
Obama sends more military personnel to Iraq
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has confirmed his country will join humanitarian airdrops over the country Middle East -
At least 39 killed in rebel-jihadist clashes in north Syria
ISIS militants have seized several towns and villages from rival Islamist groups in the Syrian province of Aleppo Middle East -
Kurdish reporter tries to speak to ISIS near their border post
Hunar Ahmed, a correspondent for the Kurdish-language news channel Rudaw, was seen attempting to speak to armed men from the Islamic State of Iraq and ... News Bulletins -
Should Twitter take down ISIS-affiliated accounts?
Extremist group supporters boasting alleged acts with grotesque images on Twitter Digital
