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 threatÂ
- 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 SyriaÂ
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.
Scroll down for videoÂ
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)
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'.Â
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.Â
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.Â
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.Â
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
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.Â
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.Â
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
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.Â
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.Â
'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.'
- Dr Pimple Popper pops huge cyst which oozes pus everywhere
- Police officer shoots dead woman charging him with cleaver
- Heart breaking moment lion kills buffalo mother and then...
- Woman beaten in broad daylight as people stand and watch
- Incredible moment a UFO can be seen leaving the Earth's...
- Invictus gold medallist meets doctors who saved her life on...
- The moment Elizabeth Marks gave her gold medal back to Harry
- Idiot driver drives Jeep into the sea and gets stuck
- Women fights two armed carjackers at Exxon petrol station
- Shocking video shows teen punch 66-year-old man into road
- Caught red-handed in scarlet: woman filmed stealing packages
- The moment groom's alleged mistress crashes his WEDDING
- EXCLUSIVE: The real reason Caitlyn Jenner IS considering...
- Underage sex scandal at Oakland Police Department as...
- I'm outta here: Michael Strahan is all smiles as he is...
- The mountain of THREE THOUSAND bags lost in one day at...
- Missing condoms, bathroom blunders, and gifts of GOLD-PLATED...
- Breaking the ice! Obamas welcome five Nordic leaders to the...
- 'Screw the next generation' and 'Harry Reid's a pompous...
- ISIS militants wielding AK-47s slaughter 14 Real Madrid fans...
- 'Thank you for giving me my life back': Army medic who...
- Hero Baptist minister saves kidnapped nine-year-old...
- Fugitive former owner of New York vegan restaurant popular...
- The scars of war: Stunning colour images reveal how Europe...