3,000 more foreign jihadists join ISIS
The U.S.-led coalition may have taken back a city or two. But ISIS is still attracting thousands of jihadists, undercutting a key component of America’s war plans. Foreign fighters from around the globe continue to pour into Iraq and Syria to join up with the self-proclaimed Islamic State—despite ISIS’s loss of two major cities, four U.S. […]Nancy A. Youssef writes for the Daily Beast:
The U.S.-led coalition may have taken back a city or two. But ISIS is still attracting thousands of jihadists, undercutting a key component of America’s war plans. Foreign fighters from around the globe continue to pour into Iraq and Syria to join up with the self-proclaimed Islamic State—despite ISIS’s loss of two major cities, four U.S. and military officials told The Daily Beast. In fact, there is some evidence that the number of fighters from Europe has increased in the last six months, one U.S. official said, from a total of 5,000 fighters six months ago to roughly 8,000 now. In other words, there’s been a 60 percent increase in these recruits in just half a year.
