by Anna Borshchevskaya
The Wall Street Journal reported today that European jihadist fighters who joined the ranks of extremists among Syrian rebel fighters are beginning to return home. This poses a significant threat to the West, as some are suspected of plotting terrorist attacks according to American and European officials.
Experts wrote about the impact of foreign fighters in Syria before.
In April 2013, Washington Institute fellow Aaron Zelin provided the first full empirical assessment of Europeans rebels in Syria, which showed that, “[t]he extent to which the Syrian conflict has mobilised Muslims across the world is significant: between 140 and 600 Europeans have gone to Syria since early 2011, representing 7-11 per cent of the foreign fighter total.” A more recent article noted in October that approximately 5,000 to 10,000 foreign fighters have come to Syria since the conflict began more than two years ago.
To be sure, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad (and one of his chief backers, Russian President Vladimir Putin), have alleged since the beginning of the uprising in March 2011 that the conflict’s primary drivers are foreigners, not the Syrian people. The data certainly does not support this claim. Estimates of total number of armed opposition fighters in Syria have ranged from 60,000 to 100,000, making foreign fighters perhaps one-tenth of the total. The impact of this well-funded and organized minority, however—whether in Syria or outside of it—appears to be disproportionately larger than its actual size.
The current threat of the returning jihadi fighters is, unfortunately, yet another example of the long-term cost to the West that resulted from its protracted inaction on Syria, which allowed extremist forces to infiltrate the Syrian struggle against Assad’s murderous regime. It is a high price to pay.
Anna Borshchevskaya is Communications Director at the American Islamic Congress
