MOSCOW, October 13 (RIA Novosti) - Three Israeli Arabs have traveled to Syria to fight for the Islamic State, Haaretz reported Monday.
According to the newspaper, the travelers, initially four, were from Yafia, which is a town near Nazareth. One of them quit while en route, returning home and notifying the families of the other three, who reportedly left their passports at a Turkey hotel before heading to Syria
The newspaper stated that the families of the three had contacted Israeli's Foreign Ministry and police. They also tried to engage Interpol in the matter so that their sons were intercepted before setting foot in the troubled Syria.
According to reports by their friends, the three had adopted Muslim attitudes prior to traveling to Syria.
The IS, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012. In June 2014, the group extended its attacks to northern and western Iraq, declaring a caliphate on the territories over which it had control.
The jihadist group has recently strengthened its positions by besieging the city of Kobani, which is located in Syria's Aleppo Governorate and on the border with Turkey. The Kurdish People's Protection Units took control of the city in 2012 as a result of the Syrian civil war.
