Over 3,000 Europeans Fighting alongside ISIL in Syria

The number of Europeans joining the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants in Syria and Iraq has surged to about 3,000 from 2,000 only months ago, a senior EU official announced.

News ID: 60010

Date: 24 September 2014 - 13:00

EU Counter-Terrorism Chief Gilles de Kerchove said the flow of Europeans may have been boosted by the ISIL declaration in June of a "caliphate" in Syria and Iraq.

"My own assessment is that we're about 3,000," he said, when asked how many European fighters have flocked to the ISIL cause in Syria and Iraq.

"The flow has not been dried up and therefore possibly the proclamation of the caliphate has had some impact," de Kerchove said.

The European fighters, he said, come mainly from France, Britain, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark but a few come from Spain, Italy, Ireland and now Austria.

"Even a country like Austria I think has now foreign fighters, which I was not aware of before," he added.

The EU counter-terrorism coordinator nonetheless said he would check his figures with those of European security service chiefs in the next couple of weeks, saying their numbers may be more conservative.

Elsewhere, the Syrian army killed a senior commander of the Al-Nusra Takfiri terrorist group in Idlib countryside in the Northwestern parts of the country.

Youssef Al-Turki, a notorious Al-Nusra Front commander, was killed in fierce clashes in Idlib countryside.

Meantime, the Syrian air force destroyed the gathering centers of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Alieh village in Ras Al-Ain countryside near the Turkish borders. Ras Al-Ain is known as Koubani by the Kurdish population in the area.

The army units were continuing their fresh operations against the Al-Nusra Front and ISIL terrorists in Idlib countryside.

Meantime, the militants suffered major losses in the countryside of Idlib. Many rebels lost their lives in Ehsem, Saraqeb, Maarzaf, Maardebseh and KafrNajd.

Abdul-Qader al-Fadel, Ibrahim al-Qaddour and Mohammad Kassem al-Kassem were identified among the killed terrorists.

Meantime, A military source said that the army soldiers scored major advances in the towns of Adra al-Balad and al-Kiswa in Damascus countryside as they killed and injured too many members of the armed group.

Elsewhere, foreign-backed militants sustained heavy casualties as the Syrian Army gained more grounds against the armed groups in Lattakia, Hama and Hasaka.

The gathering centers of the militants were raided by the army soldiers in the areas of  Khadra, Beit Shrouq, al-Utaira, al-Shahroura and Torous in the Northern countryside of Lattakia province. Too many terrorists were killed and injured.

Meantime, the Syrian soldiers struck major blow on rebels in al-Latamneh, Kafr Zita, and al-Arbaiyeen and claimed the lives of scores of militants.

Also, the hideouts of the foreign-sponsored terrorists were stormed in various districts of Hasaka province, including Aaliya and Abdelaziz.

Also, the Syrian foreign ministry in a statement on Tuesday announced that Washington had informed Damascus of its plans to attack the positions of the ISIL in Syria, but meantime stressed that any anti-ISIL attack should take place under Syria's national sovereignty and international rules.

The Syrian foreign ministry announced on Tuesday that the American side had informed its Permanent Envoy to the UN Bashar al-Jaafari of impending strikes on the ISIL terrorist organization in Raqqa.

Meantime, the Syrian foreign ministry said that Foreign Minister Walid Al-Muallem had received a letter in the same regard from his US counterpart John Kerry through Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Jafari.

Fighting terrorism should take place with the full protection of innocent civilians under Syria's national sovereignty and according to international charters, the statement said.

Source: Farsnews.com