Militants in Syria attract 31,000 foreign fighters - ex-UK spy chief
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Syria has become the pre-eminent global incubator for a new generation of militants after Islamist groups more than doubled the 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 highly repressive rule in large 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, who was formerly head of global counter-terrorism at Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, known as MI6.
"Despite sustained international effort to contain the Islamic State and stem the flow of militants travelling to Syria, the number of foreign fighters has more than doubled," Barrett said in an emailed report.
Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for a Nov. 13 attack on Paris that killed 130 people and the Oct. 31 downing of a Russian passenger plane over Egypt's Sinai region that killed 224. They promise more attacks on the West and Russia.
