MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Soufan Group (TSG) estimated in June 2014, when Daesh declared a caliphate in territories under its control, there were 12,000 foreign fighters from 81 countries in Iraq and Syria.
"Nearly eighteen months later, despite sustained international effort to contain the Islamic State and stem the flow of militants traveling to Syria, the number of foreign fighters has more than doubled," TSG said.
The New York-based security intelligence firm calculated that between 27,000 and 31,000 people have traveled to Iraq and Syria from at least 86 countries to join Daesh and other extremist groups.
These include 6,000 who have arrived from Tunisia, 5,000 from Western Europe and 4,700 from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Jordan account for the five highest sources of foreign fighters at 2,500, 2,100 and 2,000 people, respectively.
TSG estimates there are 2,400 fighters from Russia, which banned Daesh as a terrorist organization. The US Central Intelligence Agency estimated up to 3,000 Russian nationals from the Caucasus, including Chechnya and Dagestan, were fighting alongside Daesh in Iraq and Syria.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in October up to 7,000 Russian and CIS nationals were battling alongside extremists in the two crisis-torn countries.
