Some of the American expatriates who have gone to Syria and Iraq to fight alongside ISIS members are now heading back into the United States, senior administration officials confirmed to The New York Post on Monday.
The FBI is keeping tabs on those who have returned home after serving with the terrorist organization, which has begun to dominate large portions of northern Iraq and Syria, the administration says.
The National Counterterrorism Center estimates that as many as 100 Americans have tried to join forces with ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
Law enforcement sources said the FBI is quite busy because that number might actually be much higher.
President Barack Obama met with the National Security Council last Wednesday to discuss the threat to U.S. soil and nations around the world posed by terrorist organizations overseas. Obama will chair a UN Security Council summit Wednesday centered on the issue, where the international group is slated to pass a resolution establishing a global plan for addressing the growing number of foreign fighters, according to Time.
The president and other administration officials have consistently warned about Americans or Europeans who have joined the ranks of ISIS potentially entering the United States to cause harm to Westerners.
Officials believe that 15,000 warriors from 80 countries have join ISIS in Syria and Iraq, including more than 100 Americans and 2,000 Europeans.
