Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Militants in Syria Attract 31,000 Foreign Fighters – Ex-UK Spy Chief

 
Reuters, 08/12 16:31 CET

By Guy Faulconbridge

LONDON (Reuters) – Syria has become the pre-eminent global incubator for a new generation of militants after Islamist groups more than doubled their recruitment of foreign fighters to as much as 31,000 over the past 18 months, according to a former British spy chief.

In the chaos of Syria’s civil war, the majority of foreign fighters end up in militant groups like Islamic State, which uses an extreme interpretation of Islam to justify attacks on its foes and impose repressive rule in the swathes of Syria and neighbouring Iraq that it has captured.

“The Islamic State has seen success beyond the dreams of other terrorist groups that now appear conventional and even old-fashioned, such as al Qaeda,” said Richard Barrett, a former head of global counter-terrorism at Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, known as MI6. 

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Source: Euronews

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