WASHINGTON: Most of the 15,000 fighters in various Al Qaeda-related groups in Iraq and Syria are foreigners, says the US State Department.

The figures released at a news briefing in Washington show that the Islamic State group is like a ‘united nations’ of extremists, with representatives from more than 80 countries.

About 2,000 of these 15,000 fighters were from the West and most of them were affiliated with the IS, which is also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Al Sham (ISIS).

“Those 2,000 who are Westerners are fighting with all of the different groups in Iraq and Syria”. Hundreds are fighting with the IS, including a dozen or more Americans, said State Department’s deputy spokesperson Marie Harf while briefing the media on the presence of foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria.

“A lot of Westerners have gone to fight with Nusrah, other random groups there. So I know these are a lot of numbers, but we know it’s grown in strength and is something we’re very focused on,” Ms Harf said.

Responding to a question, the US official said that so far Washington had “no evidence (to suggest) that any government is supporting ISIS. There are private citizens in certain countries that we know are.”

The United States, she said, was talking to all the countries bordering Iraq and Syria to cut off the flow of foreign fighters to Syria through their borders.

The United States was also working with its allies to dry out the sources used for funding the militants in Iraq and Syria.

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2014