Experts believe Jihadists return major threat to west . IS group is well occupied in Iraq and Syria, but now it has thousands of volunteer fighters in the west, experts warn.
It is estimated that over 25,000 to 30,000 Islamic activist has drawn by the call Jihad, troops have joined IS group’s self-proclaimed “caliphate” in recent years.
While some have died during the war and others are continuing to wage wars. But it is losing ground in Iraq after the onslaught by the US-led international coalition
The Flow of foreign fighters has fallen from 2,000 to almost none in a month.
" Albert Ford of the New America think tank told AFP.
"But that's only half the issue: What do you do about the 25,000 or 30,000, Jihadist’s returning from the front line? It's an issue that's not going to go away," he said.
To fight the Soviet Union in 1980’s Arab Volunteers marched into Afghanistan.
After opposing the Soviets. “Afghan Arabs” became the vanguard of several jihadist movements, while the rest carried out attacks across globe in multiple countries.
"Once mobilized, a wave of foreign fighters is often difficult to demobilize," said a report by 20 US experts entitled "The Jihadi Threat -- ISIS, al-Qaida, and Beyond," which was published on Monday.
"And foreign fighters who do demobilize are likely to remain an important part of the fabric of modern jihads, becoming facilitators or supporters who push the agenda forward, even if they do not join the fight itself," the report said.
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Journalists and special services carried out many interviews in Europe. After jihadists return from Syria and Iraq, which indicates that fighters may renounce violence and join the movement as many still maintain the strong religious convictions.
"Total suppression of IS on the ground has nothing to do with what will happen in Western countries," Marc Sageman, a psychiatrist and former CIA agent in Pakistan during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, told AFP, speaking in French.
"In all countries, with the exception of perhaps the Netherlands and Denmark, it's time for rigor with the returning fighters. Politicians cannot afford to let even one person fall between the cracks and take action."
The hundreds and soon thousands of veterans of the jihadist movement in Syria and Iraq who are beginning to return pose a difficult problem, Katherine Zimmerman of the American Enterprise Institute said.
"Law enforcement is overwhelmed today, and it's going to be even more so in a year in terms of the challenge that they face," she said.
"There will be more people, and they're going to be better networked. And there is only so much that you can do to stop them," Zimmerman added.
History has proven that it is necessary to closely monitor older jihadists who seem to have settled down, she said.
Look at Cherif Kouachi, one of the Charlie Hebdo shooters. He was in prison in the mid-2000s. It took him years to activate," Zimmerman said.
For Nicholas Heras of the Center for a New American Security, the task at hand is not simple.
"It's extremely difficult to differentiate those who come back because they don't believe in the cause any more from those who come back to wage jihad in another form," he said.
"We need to engage with the families, with the communities. We need their help. We can't monitor these people 24/7," Heras said.
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