Official:

European Terrorist Fighters in Syria Threatening EU's Security

Rasa - Some 5,000 EU nationals are currently fighting in Syria among the ranks of ISIL and other terrorist groups, a senior Syrian official said, warning it will be a disaster for European security if the militants are allowed to return home.

News ID: 428914

Date: 14 April 2017 - 23:57

RNA -  “We have statistics that about five thousand terrorists fighting in Syria have come from the EU countries,” Syria's Deputy Minister of Expatriates and Foreign Affairs Ayman Susan told Sputnik.

“Imagine that these five thousand terrorists will return to Europe ... they can do it,” the diplomat warned.

“This will be a disaster for the security and stability of European countries and their populations.”

The EU has for years been well aware of the threat posed by European (nationals) in ISIL and other fighters who are returning from combat zones of the so-called caliphate of Syria and Iraq.

Most of the foreign nationals who arrive to fight for the extremists are lured through carefully designed social media campaigns and attractive financial benefits that the terrorists promise their recruits. The majority of EU nationals fighting in Syria and Iraq come from immigrant backgrounds in their respective EU countries who find it difficult to assimilate into European society.

“The main concern reported by EU Member States continues to be terrorism and the closely related phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters, traveling to and from conflict zones,” Europol noted.

A growing number of those who join the terrorism cause are women, while some European capitals have raised concerns about fighters making it back into Europe disguised as refugees.

“A significant percentage of all foreign terrorist travelers in Syria/ Iraq are now female,” Europol said in their European Union Terrorism Situation and Trend Report 2016.

Europol also warned that as foreign fighters continue to return so is the threat of the potential use of weapons of mass destruction.

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