Foreign fighters in the Syrian civil war and War in Iraq

[10] Many of the foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq were drawn to the jihadist ideology,[2] although experts note that religion is not the only motivation: From ignorant novices who view the trips as a rite of passage, die-hard militants looking for combat and martyrdom, and individuals who go for humanitarian reasons but get drawn into conflict, individuals become foreign fighters for a range of reasons: boredom; intergenerational tensions; the search for greater meaning in life; perceived adventure; attempts to impress the local community or the opposite sex; a desire for increased credibility; to belong or gain peer acceptance; revenge; or misguided conflict experience expectations.

Thousands of foreign fighters are in Syria from Iraq, Lebanon, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bahrain with Shia sectarian militias fighting in defence of the Assad government.

[45] In October 2019, hundreds of inmates with suspected links to the Islamic State reportedly fled a displacement camp based in north-east Syria, following the Turkish offensive in the region.

[47] Some jihadist groups are dominated by a single nationality, as is the case with the Caucasus Emirate (Chechens) and the Turkistan Islamic Party (Uyghurs), or the pro-government Afghan Shia Liwa Fatemiyoun.

A 7 December 2015 report by the Soufan Group gave estimates for the number of foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq by their country and region of origin based on information dated between 2014 and 2015.

For instance, in January 2015 Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada announced the deaths of two of its fighters in defense of Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque in Damascus, and the militia's involvement in the 2015 Southern Syria offensive was documented by the Iraqi TV station Al-Anwar 2.

[119][120] Doğu Türkistan Bülteni Haber Ajansı said that Russians bombed the family of Uyghur fighters in Idlib and the TIP retaliated by firing rockets against Iranian militias.

[165] Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad (Тавҳид ва Жиҳод),[166] also called Jannat Oshiklari,[167] is a largely Uzbek group active in northern Syria that was led by Abu Saloh.

[199][200][better source needed] On the VK social networking website, an illustration of a militant aiming an RPG at Santa Claus' flying sleigh was posted by Imam Bukhari Jamaat in 2015.

[240] Besides JMA, numerous other small factions and groups involving Russian-speaking foreign fighters, including some with links to the North Caucasus, are active in parts of Syria and Iraq.

[256][257] A report by the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism - The Hague (ICCT) from April 2016 shows that there was a total of 3,922-4,294 foreign fighters from EU Member States of whom 30 percent have returned to their home countries.

EUROPOL Director Rob Wainright issued his 2013 report and said that the returning fighters "could incite other volunteers to join the armed struggle," as well as use their training, combat experience, knowledge and contacts to conduct such activities within the EU.

[264] Norway's Thomas Hegghammer issued a report that suggested one in nine Westerners who fight in foreign jihadist insurgencies end up becoming involved in attack plots back home.

"[265] There were also Australians[266] and citizens of the United States fighting for the Syrian opposition camp,[267] despite possible prosecution by their government for terrorism amid fears they could return home and carry out attacks.

[291] On October 16, 2019, a German National going by the name Konstantin Gedig AKA "Andok Cotkar" was killed by a Turkish Airstrike while serving with the YPG International branch outside of Sere Kaniye.

[305] In mid-October 2014, the-then Prime Minister John Key confirmed that several New Zealand foreign fighters had joined various Middle Eastern factions including the Islamic State.

The Prime Minister also confirmed that the Government maintained a watchlist of 30 to 40 "people of concern in the foreign fighter context" including individuals who had traveled to Syria to engage with the Islamic State.

[328] In March 2018 Kurdish authorities reported they had captured 41 IS supporters with either Swedish citizenship or residence permit in Sweden, of which 5 had key positions in the organisation and one was the head of the Islamic State propaganda efforts.

A third of those who returned to Sweden have since been convicted of serious crimes such as attempted murder, money laundering, extortion, drug offences, fraud, aggravated assault and tax evasion.

[333] On 3 August 2013, two Lebanese-Swedish brothers, Hassan and Moatasem Deeb, were killed in a rebel assault on the Abu Zeid army checkpoint near Qalaat al-Hosn, according to their cousin and a Tripoli cleric.

[340] The Free Syrian Army's Abdullah al-Bashir asserted that British fighters were the largest foreign contingent of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, according to Iran's Alalamn News.

During Ramadan 2014, over 140 Imams led by Shahid Raza of Leicester Central Mosque signed an open letter asking British Muslims not to travel to Syria (as well as the Islamic State conflict that had spread to Iraq at the time).

by British-based Abu Muthanna al Yemeni said "We have brothers from Bangladesh, from Iraq, from Cambodia, Australia, U.K."[343] In November 2014, Regnum news agency reported that "White Widow" Samantha Lewthwaite, who had fought in Syria the previous month, was shot dead by a Russian voluntary sniper while she was fighting for the Ukrainian volunteer battalion Aidar during the War in Donbass.

[45][359] The Crown Prosecution Service warned in 2014 that "any British resident travelling to take part in fighting will face criminal charges", although Charles Farr, head of the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism, said that the government did not want to target those with humanitarian aims, and would exercise judgement in such cases.

[378] On 3 July 2013, it was reported that Syrian aircraft had dropped leaflets over areas in Idlib province calling on both rebels to turn themselves over to the authorities and for foreign fighters to return to their countries.

[381] Olsen added that "the concern going forward from a threat perspective is there are individuals traveling to Syria, becoming further radicalised, becoming trained and then returning as part of really a global jihadist movement to Western Europe and, potentially, to the United States.

Belgian Interior Minister Joelle Milquet said that his country had taken steps in 2014 to address the problem and sought to increase international cooperation in the matter because "coping with the return [of fighters], that is our main concern."

It followed European Union warnings that its citizens were going to fight in Syria and countries like Somalia and Sudan and that they could return more radicalised and trained in guerrilla tactics that could prove a security risk.

Former CIA official and former staff member of the White House National Security Council Bruce Riedel added: "Syria is the new epicenter for the global jihad with would be 'martyrs' arriving from across the Islamic world to fight Assad.

Aaron Zelin of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy wrote that "not everyone who has joined the Syrian rebels is al Qaeda, and only a small number may ever become involved in terrorism after returning to Europe.