{{France’s interior minister revealed on Thursday that hundreds of home-grown Islamist militants were signing up to fight in Syria, and warned they could pose a security threat when they return to France.}}
More than 300 French nationals or residents are either currently fighting in Syria’s civil war, are known to have plans to go and fight, or have recently returned from Syria, Interior Minister Manuel Valls told France’s Inter radio.
Citing intelligence reports, Valls said that more than 130 French citizens or residents are currently fighting in Syria.
Most of them were young men with a delinquent past who had become radicalised, he said.
“This is a phenomenon which worries me because they represent a potential danger when they return to our soil,” Valls said. “We have to be extremely attentive.”
According to British defence consultancy IHS Jane’s, up to 10,000 jihadists from all over the world are fighting alongside rebels in Syria as they try to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, with the jihadis looking to replace his regime with an Islamic state.
Counter-terrorism officials fear that a chemical weapons attack near Damascus on August 21 could attract more radical Islamists to Syria, increasing the numbers of a new generation of militants capable of wreaking havoc when they return to their home countries.
At least one French national has already died fighting in Syria. A 22-year-old convert to Islam from Toulouse was killed in a clash with government forces in August.
france24
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