20,000 foreign fighters flock to Syria, Iraq to join terrorists
British militant colloquially dubbed "Jihadi John," who has appeared in a number of ISIS execution and threat videos, as seen in one released Jan. 20, 2015 CBS News
Last Updated Feb 10, 2015 9:55 PM EST
WASHINGTON -- Foreign fighters are streaming into Syria and Iraq in unprecedented numbers to join the Islamic State or Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or other extremist groups, including at least 3,400 from Western nations among 20,000 from around the world, U.S. intelligence officials say in an updated estimate of a top terrorism concern.
Intelligence agencies now believe that as many as 150 Americans have tried and some have succeeded in reaching in the Syrian war zone, officials told the House Homeland Security Committee in testimony prepared for delivery on Wednesday. Some of those Americans were arrested en route, some died in the area and a small number are still fighting with extremists.
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The testimony and other data were obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press. A U.S. intelligence official confirmed the information to CBS News.
Nick Rasmussen, chief of the National Counterterrorism Center, said the rate of foreign fighter travel to Syria is without precedent, far exceeding the rate of foreigners who went to wage jihad in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen or Somalia at any other point in the past 20 years.
U.S. officials fear that some of the foreign fighters, who come from 90 countries, will return undetected to their homes in Europe or the U.S. to mount terrorist attacks. At least one of the men responsible for the attack on a satirical magazine in Paris had spent time with Islamic extremists in Yemen.
Meanwhile, the White House circulated a proposal Tuesday that would have Congress authorize the U.S. military to fight ISIS terrorists over the next three years. A formal request for legislation is expected on Wednesday.
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20,000 foreign fighters flock to Syria, Iraq to join terrorists