Abstract
This chapter focuses on the statistics and characteristics of foreign fighters of all sides of the conflict in Syria and Iraq, and the reasons for this phenomenon as well as some general policy responses in the countries from which these fighters originate. First, the authors provide a short historical background of foreign fighters and a definition of the term, which is used throughout this book. Next, it describes the rapidly growing numbers and characteristics of these fighters in Syria and Iraq. Finally, adding up the various assessments, the authors arrive at a combined estimate of a total number of more than 30,000 foreign fighters of all sorts for the entire conflict in Syria and Iraq since 2011.
Prof. Dr. Edwin Bakker is Professor of (Counter-)Terrorism Studies at Leiden University, Director of the Centre for Terrorism and Counterterrorism (CTC) of that same university, and Fellow of the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism—The Hague.
Mark Singleton is the Director of the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism—The Hague.
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Notes
- 1.
The group that is calling itself Islamic State is also frequently referred to as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (ISIS) or as Da’esh, a term based on its Arabic acronym.
- 2.
Jabhat al Nusra is also referred to as the al Nusra Front, or Jabhat an Nuṣrah li Ahli ash Shām, meaning ‘The Support Front for the People of al Sham’. It is a branch of al Qaeda operating in Syria and Lebanon.
- 3.
The Free Syrian Army started as a group of defected Syrian Armed Forces officers and soldiers. It is regarded a ‘moderate’ rebel group and is not listed as a terrorist organisation as opposed to Islamic State and Jabhat al Nusra that are on the UN list of designated terrorist organisations.
- 4.
Stern and Berger 2014 p. xii.
- 5.
For more information, see Chap. 3 by Flores in this volume.
- 6.
B.S. Exton, ‘The Pope’s Legion: the multinational fighting force that defended the Vatican’, Catholic News Agency, 12 September 2008. http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/column.php?n=435. Accessed 16 June 2015.
- 7.
Malet 2013.
- 8.
Following Stern and Berger (p. xi), the authors use the term jihad to refer a broad range of actions, from spiritual struggles to armed conflict.
- 9.
Following Stern and Berger (p. xii), the authors use the term mujahid (plural mujahideen) to refer to a Muslim fighter waging military jihad.
- 10.
Neumann 2015.
- 11.
Azzam 1987.
- 12.
‘20,000 Foreign Fighters Flock To Syria, Iraq’, Huffington Post, 2 February 2015. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/10/foreign-fighters-syria-iraq_n_6656114.html. Accessed 16 June 2015; Brian Murphy, ‘Official: Over 20,000 foreign fighters lured by militant factions in Syria’, The Washington Post, 2 February 2015. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/official-over-20000-foreign-fighters-lured-by-militant-factions-in-syria/2015/02/11/8f12eaa0-b212-11e4-827f-93f454140e2b_story.html. Accessed 16 June 2015.
- 13.
- 14.
J. Moore, ‘5,000 Foreign Fighters Flock to Libya as ISIS Call for Jihadists [sic]’, Newsweek, 3 March 2015. www.europe.newsweek.com/5000-foreign-fighters-flock-libya-isis-call-jihadists-310948. Accessed 16 June 2015.
- 15.
Zelin 2012.
- 16.
Idem.
- 17.
Zelin 2013.
- 18.
Byman and Shapiro 2014.
- 19.
Zelin 2013.
- 20.
Barrett 2014.
- 21.
Justin Sink, ’WH: Radicalized Americans back in US’, The Hill, 22 September 2014. http://thehill.com/policy/international/218494-white-house-radicalized-americans-back-in-us. Accessed 16 June 2015.
- 22.
‘20,000 Foreign Fighters Flock To Syria, Iraq’, Huffington Post. Brian Murphy, ‘Official: Over 20,000 foreign fighters’.
- 23.
Neumann 2015.
- 24.
Idem.
- 25.
Idem.
- 26.
Idem.
- 27.
Idem.
- 28.
Neumann 2015. Reed, de Roy van Zuijdewijn and Bakker 2015.
- 29.
Neumann 2015.
- 30.
For example in al-Qusayr in April 2013; Barrett 2014, p. 11.
- 31.
Zelin 2013.
- 32.
- 33.
Barrett 2014.
- 34.
Idem.
- 35.
Zelin 2013.
- 36.
Idem.
- 37.
Idem.
- 38.
Idem.
- 39.
Smyth 2015, p. 43.
- 40.
Ishaan Tharoor, ‘Shiites in India Want to Join the Fight against the Islamic State in Iraq,’ The Washington Post, 6 August 2014. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/08/06/shiites-in-india-want-to-join-the-fight-against-the-islamic-state-in-iraq/. Accessed 16 June 2015.
- 41.
Smyth, ‘The Shiite Jihad in Syria’, p. 40.
- 42.
Ariel Ben Solomon, ‘Report: Yemen Houthis fighting for Assad in Syria’, The Jerusalem Post, 31 May 2013. http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Report-Yemen-Houthis-fighting-for-Assad-in-Syria-315005. Accessed 16 June 2015.
- 43.
Zelin 2013.
- 44.
Rozh Ahmad, ‘Western "comrades” join Kurds, Arabs, secularists, Yezidis, and Syriac Christians against Islamic State’, Your Middle East, 29 October 2013. http://www.yourmiddleeast.com/culture/western-comrades-join-kurds-arabs-secularists-yezidis-and-syriac-christians-against-islamic-state_27563. Accessed 16 June 2015.
- 45.
Tom Perry and Sylvia Westall, ‘German woman killed fighting Islamic State in Syria’, Reuters, 9 March 2015. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/09/us-mideast-crisis-kurds-germany-idUSKBN0M516T20150309. Accessed 16 June 2015.
- 46.
Barrett 2014, p. 4.
- 47.
European Foreign Policy Scorecard 2015, European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), p. 11. http://www.ecfr.eu/page/-/ECFR125_SCORECARD_2015.pdf. Accessed 16 June 2015.
- 48.
‘The Sunni-Shia Divide’, Council on Foreign Relations. www.cfr.org/peace-conflict-and-human-rights/sunni-shia-divide/p33176#!/ . Accessed 15 June 2015.
- 49.
See e.g. K. Sengupta, ‘Turkey and Saudi Arabia alarm the West by backing Islamist extremists the Americans had bombed in Syria’, The Independent UK, 12 May 2015. www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-crisis-turkey-and-saudi-arabia-shock-western-countries-by-supporting-antiassad-jihadists-10242747.html. Accessed 16 June 2015. C. Chivers and E. Schmitt, ‘Saudis Step Up Help for Rebels in Syria With Croatian Arms’, New York Times, 25 February 2013. www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/world/middleeast/in-shift-saudis-are-said-to-arm-rebels-in-syria.html. Accessed 16 June 2015; R. Khalaf and Ab. Fielding-Smith, ‘How Qatar seized control of the Syrian revolution’, Financial Times, 17 May 2013. www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/f2d9bbc8-bdbc-11e2-890a-00144feab7de.html. Accessed 16 June 2015; K. DeYoung and L. Sly, ‘Syrian rebels get influx of arms with gulf neighbours’ money, U.S. coordination’, Washington Post, 15 May 2012. www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/syrian-rebels-get-influx-of-arms-with-gulf-neighbors-money-us-coordination/2012/05/15/gIQAds2TSU_story.html. Accessed 16 June 2015.
- 50.
A. Lund, Who are the Pro-Assad Militias?’, Carnegie Endowment, 2 March 2015. www.carnegieendowment.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=59215. Accessed 16 June 2015.
- 51.
European Foreign Policy Scorecard 2015, European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), p. 11. http://www.ecfr.eu/page/-/ECFR125_SCORECARD_2015.pdf. Accessed 16 June 2015.
- 52.
Barrett 2014, p. 9.
- 53.
Gartenstein-Ross and Barr 2015.
- 54.
For more information, see Chap. 21 by Zelin and Prohov in this volume.
- 55.
For more information, see Chap. 16 by de Kerchove and Höhn in this volume.
- 56.
Bakker et al. 2013.
- 57.
For more information, see Chap. 22 by Gartenstein-Ross and Moreng in this volume.
- 58.
Ella Flaye, ‘At least 500 Europeans fighting with Syria rebels, study finds, stoking radicalization fears’, CBS News, 30 April 2013, http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57582040/at-least-500-europeans-fighting-with-syria-rebels-study-finds-stoking-radicalization-fears/. Accessed 16 June 2015.
- 59.
Neumann 2015.
- 60.
Chair of the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1989 (2011) concerning Al-Qaida and associated individuals and entities, Letter dated 19 May 2015 from the Chair of the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1989 (2011) concerning Al-Qaida and associated individuals and entities addressed to the President of the Security Council, United Nations, S/2015/358, p. 3.
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Bakker, E., Singleton, M. (2016). Foreign Fighters in the Syria and Iraq Conflict: Statistics and Characteristics of a Rapidly Growing Phenomenon. In: de Guttry, A., Capone, F., Paulussen, C. (eds) Foreign Fighters under International Law and Beyond. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-099-2_2
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