30,000 foreign fighters including up to 250 Americans have poured into Iraq and Syria to join ISIS since 2011, US intelligence fears

  • Anonymous 'intelligence and law enforcement officials' were cited in report
  • US military is alleged to have been playing down IS threat 
  • However, a US Congressional report concludes: 'Despite concerted efforts to stem the flow, we have largely failed to stop Americans from travelling overseas to join jihadists'
  • Pentagon set up a $500m program to train 'moderate' Syrian rebels
  • But first cross-border foray by 54 US-trained fighters was defeated by Al Qaeda-linked militia
  • A second appears to have traded their arms to jihadists for safe passage
  • See our full coverage of ISIS and the war in Syria 

US intelligence fears nearly 30,000 foreign fighters from more than 100 countries have travelled to Iraq and Syria since 2011, many of them to join the Islamic State group.

The number, which reportedly includes many westerners - among them possibly 250 Americans - represents a doubling of last year's US assessment and will dismay America's war planners.

Anonymous 'intelligence and law enforcement officials' were cited in the report, according to the New York Times.

In recent weeks, there have been allegations that the US military has been playing down the IS threat in intelligence reports to paint a rosier picture of its efforts.

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A new congressional report estimates that nearly 30,000 foreign fighters from more than 100 countries have traveled to Iray and Syria since 2011, many of them to join the Islamic State group (file picture)

US intelligence fears nearly 30,000 foreign fighters from more than 100 countries have travelled to Iraq and Syria since 2011, many of them to join the Islamic State group (file picture)

The congressional report was published the same day that President Obama chaired a summit at the U.N. General Assembly highlighting the international community's efforts to counter Islamic State, address the foreign fighters issue and counter violent extremism. Mr Obama pictured at the UN on Monday

As world leaders convene for the UN General Assembly this week, it will be a year since the US president declared the formation of an international coalition to 'degrade and ultimately destroy' the Islamic State group. Despite billions of dollars spent and thousands of airstrikes, the campaign appears to have made little impact

But President Barack Obama will on Tuesday chair an international summit on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly for leaders fighting the IS group and 'violent extremism'.

Meanwhile, a US Congressional report into foreign fighter flows is expected to paint a bleaker picture, suggesting that a year of US-led air strikes has not slowed recruitment.

The report grimly concludes that 'despite concerted efforts to stem the flow, we have largely failed to stop Americans from travelling overseas to join jihadists'. 

Aside from the aerial bombardment of IS targets by a US-led coalition of Arab and Western powers, the Pentagon has also set up a $500million program to train 'moderate' Syrian rebels.

But this, too, has proved an embarrassment.

A first cross-border foray by 54 US-trained fighters was defeated by an Al Qaeda-linked militia and a second appears to have traded many of their arms to jihadists for safe passage. 

Russia's declared purpose of its military build-up in Syria is helping the government of President Bashar Assad (left) battle the Islamic extremists
Moscow has urged the West to go along

Russia's declared purpose of its military build-up in Syria is helping the government of President Bashar Assad (left) battle the Islamic extremists, and Moscow has urged the West to go along

As world leaders convene for the UN General Assembly this week, it will be a year since the US president declared the formation of an international coalition to 'degrade and ultimately destroy' the Islamic State group.

Despite billions of dollars spent and thousands of airstrikes, the campaign appears to have made little impact.

The extremist group may control slightly less territory than a year ago, but it continues to launch attacks and maintains key strongholds in Syria and Iraq. The militants' reach has expanded to other countries, including Libya, Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and Afghanistan.

US-led airstrikes helped Syrian Kurds hold the strategic border town of Kobani in January, and seize another key border town, Tal Abyad, this summer. 

But a much-touted offensive to oust IS militants from the Iraqi city of Ramadi remains stalled and there have been grave losses among the few Syrian rebels trained by the US to fight IS. 

Furthermore, an IS-free zone announced by Turkey and the US has failed to materialize.

US-led airstrikes helped Syrian Kurds hold the strategic border town of Kobani (pictured) in January, and seize another key border town, Tal Abyad, this summer. But a much-touted offensive to oust IS militants from the Iraqi city of Ramadi remains stalled

US-led airstrikes helped Syrian Kurds hold the strategic border town of Kobani (pictured) in January, and seize another key border town, Tal Abyad, this summer. But a much-touted offensive to oust IS militants from the Iraqi city of Ramadi remains stalled

At the same time, growing concern about the Syrian refugee crisis and reports that IS may be planning attacks against Europe may spur some countries to get more involved in the anti-IS coalition. 

On Sunday, President Francois Hollande announced that French jet fighters had carried out their first airstrikes against IS targets in Syria. France had previously limited its air campaign to IS targets in Iraq.

But short of sending in ground forces - an option Western countries are not willing to entertain - the stalemate in the war against the Islamic State group is likely to persist.

'Quite simply, the countries best-placed to contribute meaningfully to the anti-ISIS effort do not share the same interests in Syria,' said Faysal Itani, a resident fellow at the Atlantic Council.

And Russia's military build-up of aircraft, missiles, tanks and other equipment in Syria is complicating the fight against IS militants in the region.

Russia's declared purpose is helping the government of President Bashar Assad battle the Islamic extremists, and Moscow has urged the West to go along. 

In an interview broadcast ahead of his meeting on Monday with President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin sharply criticized US military support for Syrian rebels, describing it as illegal and useless.

The Obama administration is concerned that Russia's real intention is to shore up Assad and strike at other factions seeking to topple him under the pretext of fighting international terrorism.

ISIS may control slightly less territory than a year ago, but it continues to launch attacks and maintains key strongholds in Syria and Iraq. The militants' reach has expanded to other countries, including Libya, Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and Afghanistan

ISIS may control slightly less territory than a year ago, but it continues to launch attacks and maintains key strongholds in Syria and Iraq. The militants' reach has expanded to other countries, including Libya, Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and Afghanistan

And in Iraq, US efforts to battle the extremists without working with Damascus and its allies could be further complicated by news Sunday that Iraq's military will begin sharing security and intelligence information with Syria, Russia and Iran to help combat the Islamic State group. 

In the United States, both Republicans and Democrats have lambasted the administration's strategy against the IS group, especially after a US general acknowledged that just a few US-trained Syrian rebels remain on the battlefield - others were wiped out by Al-Qaeda militants.

The US military said this month that about 70 newly trained rebels have returned to Syria from Turkey. Still, the number is nowhere near the U.S. goal to train and equip 5,400 rebels a year at a cost of $500million.

The Obama administration is adamant that it will commit no US ground troops despite calls from some in Congress to do so.

'The whole thing is a joke. They are not serious about destroying Daesh either in Syria or Iraq,' said a one-time resident of Raqqa who fled to Turkey. 

'Dropping a few bombs every now and then will not change anything,' he said. He spoke on condition of anonymity to protect his family in Raqqa, the Syrian city the IS has claimed as the capital of its self-declared caliphate.

The top US commander in the Middle East, General Lloyd Austin, insisted this month that the operation against IS was making progress, and said the military had always said the campaign would take time.

An IS operative, meanwhile, said it was unlikely that Russia would be drawn into the war against the group. And he said bickering over the Russian presence in Syria would ultimately benefit the IS effort.

'Any group that wants to divide Syria up or battle over it for dividing the booty, this will be in our interest,' he wrote in an exchange of Skype messages. He spoke on condition of anonymity because members of the group are not allowed to speak to journalists.

If Russia joins the coalition, he said: 'It makes no difference for the Islamic State to fight 60 or 80 countries. It is the same.'

AUSTRALIANS FIGHTING FOR ISIS DOUBLES IN A YEAR

The number of Australians fighting for the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq doubled in the past year but was not expected to continue to grow so rapidly, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said.

Australia has been increasingly concerned about the ability of IS, also known as Daesh, to lure citizens to the conflict and at least 20 nationals are believed to have died there.

'We estimate that there are around 120 Australians currently in Iraq and Syria supporting Daesh and other terrorist groups,' Bishop told reporters in New York late Sunday.

'That is double the number that I reported here 12 months ago.'

Bishop said estimates were that 30,000 foreigners from at least 100 countries had joined Islamic State jihadists.

'Our numbers have doubled since last year but I don't expect it to double again by next year,' she said from New York where she has been attending the United Nations General Assembly.

'We are having some success in interrupting the flow of foreign terrorist fighters, but I wouldn't say we have yet turned the tide.'

Australia raised its terror threat level to high a year ago and since then has introduced new national security laws and conducted counter-terrorism raids amid concerns about radicalisation.

Canberra has also cancelled passports and prevented a number of people from leaving the country on fears they were heading to the Middle East to join IS.

'So the numbers are still increasing but we hope to stem the trajectory through our efforts,' Bishop told Australian media.

The Australian minister said the government was also concerned about convicted terrorists who are being released from jails in Asia, including in Indonesia, and the risks they posed if not rehabilitated.

'It is also a concern that we have that this kind of perverted ideology could be spread within the prison system as it has been in other countries,' Bishop said.

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