Interpol identifies 4,000 fighters who joined Jihadist groups

Interpol has identified 4,000 foreign fighters who joined jihadist groups in conflict areas, mainly Iran and Syria, Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds yesterday reported a senior figure saying.

“In September 2014, Interpol identified at least 900 foreign terrorist fighters,” Interpol Secretary-General Jürgen Stock said. “Today, after less than a year, pictures of more than 4,000 fighters are there in our database.”

Stock was speaking at an international meeting held in Barcelona for police units who are cooperating with Interpol. They discussed ways of cooperation in the field of the war on terror.

To face the trend of foreign fighters, Stock said, the member states should make more information common among members in order to facilitate the organisation’s access to this information.

“It is noteworthy to remind that even the information cooperation on borders is going on well, but it remains slower than the movement of the terrorists,” Stock said. “This gives them enough time to plan their movement into and out of the target places.”

He also said that there is a gap between the number of the foreign fighters and those who have been identified. “We have to work to bridge this gap,” he stressed.

The newspaper reported that there are around 25,000 foreign fighters from 100 countries who have joined armed groups such as ISIS and the Al-Qaeda, according to a UN report.