WASHINGTON - The US government is tracking and gathering intelligence on as many as 300 Americans who are fighting side by side with the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, according to senior US officials.
Washington is worried that radicalised foreign fighters could become a risk to the US if they return to employ skills learned overseas to carry out attacks, The Washington Times reported, citing the officials. “We know that there are several hundred American passport holders running around with ISIS in Syria or Iraq,” a senior US official said. “It’s hard to tell whether or not they’re in Syria or moved to Iraq.”
Past reports have put the possible number of Americans who have flocked to the extremist group at around 100. IS, a former Al-Qaeda affiliate, gained strength fighting Bashar Assad’s forces in the Syrian civil war before turning to cross the border into Iraq, where they have made swift gains in western and northern sections of the volatile country.
The news of as many as 300 Americans fighting with IS comes one day after reports that a 33-year-old American, Douglas McAuthur McCain, was killed over the weekend in Syria while battling alongside Islamic State against members of a separate opposition group. Family members confirmed his passing to NBC News, and senior US officials acknowledged that they were aware of the man’s death.
The US government is doing its best to keep track of the foreign fighters, who have been shifting back and forth between Iraq and Syria, according to a senior US official. Other IS supporters have taken to social media to inspire anxiety among the US government, the report said. In recent weeks, photos were posted on Twitter showing the Islamic State flag unfurled in front of the White House, and, in front of the Old Republic building on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue, a message in Arabic was shown, reading, “We are in your state, we are in your cities, we are in your streets, you are our goals anywhere.”
The Secret Service is investigating the photo near the White House. The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security issued last week a bulletin to local law enforcement agencies to be alert without identify a specific threat, according to the report.