The White House acknowledged on Monday that some Americans fighting with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria have returned to the United States, estimating that more than 100 fighters from the U.S. have joined the terrorist group.
To date, the White House had not publicly revealed that Americans fighting on behalf of the Islamic State were back in the U.S. The FBI is now monitoring the American-born fighters who have come home, a senior administration official confirmed.
Lawmakers have repeatedly raised concerns about radicalized Americans launching attacks in the United States, noting that the Islamic State has threatened to attack major U.S. cities. Government officials also say the fighters are a major threat because of the ease in which they can travel.
President Obama warned about such dangers in an address to the nation earlier this month.
“Our intelligence community believes that thousands of foreigners — including Europeans and some Americans — have joined them in Syria and Iraq,” Obama said. “Trained and battle-hardened, these fighters could try to return to their home countries and carry out deadly attacks.”
The announcement from the White House comes ahead of Obama traveling to a United Nations summit in New York this week devoted largely to combating the Islamic State, including a meeting on Wednesday focused on limiting the growth in foreign fighters.
