The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has managed to recruit around 20,000 foreigners, including 150 American citizens and 3,400 in Western countries to join their cause, CBS reported.
U.S. intelligence officials said that at least 20,000 have attempted or are still trying to join the ranks of the terror group in its mission to establish an Islamic caliphate in Iraq and Syria, and are concerned that there will be more terrorist attacks in the future because of this.
Nick Rasmussen, chief of the National Counterterrorism Center, revealed that the rate in which ISIS is recruiting foreign fighters is "without precedent," and it has now surpassed the number of foreign fighters who have joined jihadist campaigns in countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen or Somalia.
He revealed that the 150 or so American citizens who wanted to join ISIS have risked their lives just to get to Iraq and Syria, with majority of them arrested on their way while the others have been killed for unspecified reasons.
However, there were also some who managed to successfully enter ISIS ranks and they are now fighting as one with the extremists.
A United Nations report shared last October showed that there are as many as 15,000 foreign fighters who have come to Iraq and Syria to fight for the terror group.
The latest update by the U.S. noted that at least 3,400 of the foreign fighters have come from Western nations, such as Britain and France, but intelligence officials added that the foreign fighters have come from a total of 90 different countries.
Many expressed fears that should the foreign fighters return to their homeland, there might be an increase in terror operations.
Western countries have been doing everything they can to keep foreign fighters from joining ISIS, the New York Times reported.
France has sought more power to block its citizens from leaving the country, while Britain is mulling whether or not it should stop more of its citizens from coming home. Meanwhile, Tunisia is considering implementing measures to make it a criminal offense to help jihadist fighters travel to Syria and Iraq, while Russia has outlawed enlisting in armed groups that are "contradictory to Russian policy."
For his part, U.S. President Barack Obama has already sought approval from Congress granting him powers to continue operations against ISIS. Congress is set to vote on a blueprint for war for the first time in 13 years, since it approved former President George H. Bush's request in 2002 to use force against the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein.
