Foreign fighters bent on joining militants in Syria, Iraq and North Africa are changing tactics to avoid detection, increasingly resorting to tortuous travel routes and relying on intermediaries, Interpol said on Friday.
Interpol chief Juergen Stock told a special UN Security Council meeting that intelligence-sharing was key to stopping would-be militants who are now flocking to war zones in record numbers.
“Intelligence is crossing borders, but at a much slower pace than foreign terrorist fighters are,” Stock said.
Photo: AFP
The 15-member council was meeting interior ministers for the first time after a UN study showed a surge in the number of “foreign terrorist fighters” worldwide.
The council adopted a ground-breaking resolution in September that called on governments to make it a serious crime for their nationals to enlist as a foreign fighter with extremist groups such as the Islamic State.
Stock said measures to stop foreign fighters are “already producing changes in tactics” by recruiters who are setting up “broken travel” to make tracking more difficult.
More “facilitation networks” are springing up to help would-be militants reach their destination and recruiters are approaching convicted criminals to join their ranks, he said.
US Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson told the council that “much more needs to be done” to cut off the steady flow of foreign fighters who are becoming “increasingly mobile, adaptable and brutal.”
Only 51 countries have asked airlines operating in their territories to provide advance passenger information to allow security personnel to carry out checks.
A study by a UN panel of experts showed a 71 percent increase in the number of foreign fighters between the middle of last year to March.
About 25,000 foreign fighters from more than 100 countries are involved in armed conflicts worldwide, with the highest influx into Syria, Iraq and increasingly into Libya, the report said.
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