US Steps Up Scrutiny of American Fighters in Syria

Local Editor

The US ‘Justice' Department tapped a veteran prosecutor to probe the flow of foreign fighters, including Americans, who are joining Syria's militants, in a sign of increasing alarm over the threat of militants returning home, as US officials said on Thursday.

The ‘Justice' Department prosecutor assigned to deal with the issue, Stephen Ponticello, works for the department's national security division.

The head of that division, John Carlin, said on Thursday that Ponticello will coordinate investigations into foreign fighters, provide expertise, and meet with foreign counterparts in Europe and elsewhere who are dealing with the same threat.

Carlin said at an event at the Brookings Institution think tank that, "We want to make sure that individuals in the ‘counterterrorism' section and the US Attorneys throughout the country are focused on this threat."

The FBI has also formed a special team to identify US citizens traveling to Syria to fight with groups against the Syrian government, and is working with both intelligence and law enforcement agencies to investigate such individuals, a spokesman said.
US security agencies have expressed growing concern for months about a steady stream of Western militants heading to Syria.

US intelligence officials have until recently estimated that since 2012, around 7,000 foreigners have joined about 23,000 militants fighting against the Syrian government.
Hundreds of others from the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and other countries whose citizens are afforded easy entry to the US have also fought in Syria, as US and European officials said.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team