The US military on Thursday retreated from a top general’s claim this week that the number of foreign fighters joining ISIS in Iraq and Syria has fallen by as much as 90 per cent.
The US military on Thursday retreated from a top general’s claim this week that the number of foreign fighters joining ISIS in Iraq and Syria has fallen by as much as 90 per cent.
Air Force Major-General Peter Gersten, deputy-commander for operations and intelligence in the US-led coalition battling ISIS, told reporters on Tuesday that the number of foreign fighters joining the group had fallen to 200 a month from between 1,500 and 2,000.
US Army Colonel Steve Warren, a Baghdad-based spokesperson for the coalition, said that the official estimate is higher than the one General Gersten offered, although he did not provide a precise figure.
“We believe the foreign fighter flow was 2,000 at one point and is now down to a quarter or less of that,” Colonel Warren said. That would equal roughly 500 fighters per month, or a drop of about 75 per cent from the peak.
“The key is the cumulative effect over time of the damage we have done to them on the battlefield combined with reduced (foreign fighter) flow, so they have to increasingly use younger fighters, conscripts, and security/governance personnel to field their force,” he said.
It was unclear why General Gersten used a figure of 200.
