Radical British Islamists are heading to Syria in greater numbers than all other theatres of war, a senior British official has said. The numbers of young British Muslims going to fight with extremist groups battling the Syrian regime has risen to the point where the conflict already poses a "major threat" to Britain's stability and security.
The official said, "This is a horrific situation that is now on a grave trajectory. We now have more British jihadists going to Syria than all the other areas of conflict, be it Afghanistan, Pakistan or Yemen combined."
The government is trying to find ways of isolating jihadist groups in Syria, as Whitehall considers plans to increase aid to rebels, including sending arms.
Security experts fear a new generation of radicals intent on a career of jihadist warfare is gaining training and experience of war in Syria. The exodus from British towns and cities is believed to have escalated to levels last seen decades ago when the Bosnian and Afghan conflicts were at their height.
Nigel Inkster, the director of transnational threats at the IISS think tank and former deputy head of MI6, said Syria has become a more important battle for young Muslims than insurgencies against Western troops and their allies. He said, "Syria is the increasing focus of jihadist activities especially with Afghanistan winding down and and the conditions in the training areas of tribal Pakistan increasingly difficult as a result of the threat from American drone strikes.
"Intelligence and security reports warn Syria could become the crucible of trans-national terrorism in much the same way as the insurgency against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan was in the 1980s." |