IS foreign fighters threat to security of home countries: Barzani

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – A senior Kurdish official on Wednesday said foreign fighters who are deserting the Islamic State (IS) pose a threat to the security of their countries of origin.

Masrour Barzani, the Chancellor of the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC), warned the battle with IS will become a war of ideas as foreign fighters quit the group.

“The nature of the fight against [IS] will change into an intelligence war,” the KRSC Chancellor said, according to The Guardian.

“Defeating [IS] militarily deprives them of territory and prevents them attracting and recruiting fighters,” Barzani continued.

The Chancellor noted several foreign fighters abandoning the insurgent group indicates IS’ fortunes had turned.

He explained IS’ defeats and loss of territories “discourages foreign fighters from staying” as they “eventually try to escape or surrender.”

However, Barzani pointed to the continued threat foreign fighters may pose to the security of their homelands upon their return.

The KRSC Chancellor stressed the ideological and violent threat of returning foreign fighters should not be taken lightly.

“The threat foreign fighters can still pose upon returning to their countries should not be underestimated,” Barzani stated.

Nearly 30,000 foreign fighters are believed to have entered into Syria and Iraq to fight with the insurgent group, The Guardian reports.

Moreover, the US government previously estimated over 25,000 of these fighters have been killed in battle.

As the operation to liberate Mosul and Raqqa—IS’ strongholds in Iraq and Syria respectively—intensifies, the group’s influence is shrinking, and the exodus of foreign fighters continues.

Editing by G. H. Renaud