Washington (AFP) - Some 12,000
foreign jihadists from 50 countries, including Americans, have gone to
fight in Syria since the conflict began, the US State Department said
Thursday.
A US official,
speaking on condition of anonymity, estimated that more than 100 US
citizens have traveled or tried to travel to Syria to join the conflict.
They have traveled to join
radical groups including the Islamic State (IS), militants fighting the
regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria who have expanded into neighboring
Iraq.
"We think that there
are approximately 12,000 fighters from at least 50 countries in Syria --
foreign fighters, including a small number of Americans -- that may
have traveled to Syria since the beginning of the conflict" more than
three years ago, said deputy State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf.
"They may all not still be there," she said, without revealing an estimated number of Americans.
US officials have been unable to identify an organized recruitment effort aimed at US citizens, as is the case in Europe.
Washington has publicly stated
that Western fighters pose an especially dangerous risk, especially when
they return to their countries of origin.
In
late September, President Barack Obama is scheduled to host a Security
Council summit with other heads of state focusing on the acute threat
posed by foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq.
During
his August 12 visit to Sydney, Secretary of State John Kerry said that
Washington and Australia agreed to take concerns about the threat posed
by jihadist foreign fighters in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere to the United
Nations.
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