Number of Foreign Fighters Entering Iraq and Syria Drops by 90 Percent, Pentagon Says

The Washington Post
By: Thomas Gibbons-Neff

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The flow of foreign fighters into Iraq and Syria has dropped from roughly 2,000 a month down to 200 within the past year, according to the Pentagon, which says the waning numbers are further proof of the Islamic State’s declining stature.

The declining number of fighters is a direct result of strikes that have targeted the terror group’s infrastructure, Air Force Maj. Gen. Peter E. Gersten, the deputy commander for operations and intelligence for the U.S.-led campaign against the Islamic State, said Tuesday…

As recently as January, U.S. intelligence reports estimated that there were more than 30,000 foreign fighters from roughly 100 different countries within the Islamic State’s ranks. That includes more than 6,000 Westerners. This number was echoed in a December report by The Soufan Group, a think tank, indicating that foreign fighters in Syria had doubled between 2014 and 2015. Western officials are concerned that foreign fighters returning from Syria and Iraq will return to their home countries radicalized and willing to carry out terror attacks within their own borders.

Patrick Skinner, director of special projects at The Soufan Group, said the Pentagon’s recent estimate regarding the dwindling flow of foreign fighters is “probably accurate…

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Download The Soufan Group’s updated report on Foreign Fighters here.

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