Syria A Path To Terrorism

As Syrian Conflict Rages, France Examines Potential Terrorism Risks

ARIS MESSINIS / AFP / Getty Images

A Free Syria Army fighter stands near the Syrian-Turkish border on Aug. 27, 2012

As the civil war grinds on between loyalists of Syrian President Bashar Assad and rebel forces fighting to depose him, concerns are rising that the conflict may become a magnet for aspiring jihadists in Europe. Those apprehensions were expressed to TIME this week by French counterterrorism officials, who outlined reliable intelligence information and one established case of French youths traveling to Syria to fight with Islamist militants. That nub of evidence, they say, has them monitoring the rebellion for signs of it becoming a destination for budding radicals in Europe seeking a quick route to jihad.
Though they were intentionally hazy on many details to avoid compromising their work in the area, security officials said new intelligence indicates a not insignificant number of French youths have traveled en route to Turkey to fight in Syria. In one case, a group of nearly a half dozen young men who’d begun feeding their appetite for radical Islam online had made their way into Syrian refugee camps along Turkey’s border to get information and make contacts with rebel forces. They eventually traveled into Syria to join one of the many columns formed by foreign jihadists, according to one French man who had second thoughts, returned home and was questioned by security authorities who’d learned of the trip.

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