Report: More than 20,000 Foreign Fighters in Syria/Iraq

The International Center for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence (ICSR) at King's College London has released results of a report estimating that more than 20,000 foreign fighters have joined Sunni militant groups in Syria and Iraq. The figure now exceeds the number of foreign fighters who fought in Afghanistan in the 1980s, “the largest mobilization of foreign fighters in Muslim majority countries since 1945,” according to ICSR and the Munich Security Conference. Almost 20 percent are nationals or residents of West European countries. The following data on foreign fighters by country, compiled by ICSR, is included in the Munich Security Report.

Western Europe
 

Country

Estimate

Per capita*

Austria

100-150

17

Belgium

440

40

Denmark

100-150

27

Finland

50-70

13

France

1,200

18

Germany

500-600

7.5

Ireland

30

7

Italy

80

1.5

Netherlands

200-250

14.5

Norway

60

12

Spain

50-100

2

Sweden

150-180

19

Switzerland

40

5

United Kingdom

500-600

9.5

*Up to; per million population.

The Rest of the World
 

Country

Estimate

Afghanistan

50

Albania

90

Algeria

200

Australia

100-250

Bahrain

12

Bosnia

330

Canada

100

China

300

Egypt

360

Israel/Palest. Territories

120

Jordan

1,500

Kazakhstan

250

Kosovo

100-150

Kuwait

70

Kyrgyzstan

100

Lebanon

900

Libya

600

Macedonia

12

Morocco

1,500

New Zealand

6

Pakistan

500

Qatar

15

Russia

800-1,500

Saudi-Arabia

1,500-2,500

Serbia

50-70

Somalia

70

Sudan

100

Tajikistan

190

Turkey

600

Turkmenistan

360

Tunisia

1,500-3,000

Ukraine

50

United Arab Emirates

15

United States of America

100

Uzbekistan

500

Yemen

110

Click here for ICSR's complete findings and information on its methodology

Click here for the 2015 Munich Security Report