Tunisians form the largest number of foreign fighters traveling to
join ISIL in Syria and Iraq, with six thousand of them answering ISIL’s
recruitment call since 2011, according to security consultancy The
Soufan Group.
Most of the Tunisians are from three recruiting hotbeds in the North
African country: Ben Gardane, Bizerte and the capital Tunis.
According to the report, as many as 31,000 people from at least 86
countries have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join ISIL over the last
five years, despite efforts to contain the numbers.
Of that total figure, six thousand Tunisians – including 700 women
-answered ISIL’s call, accounting for a fifth of all ISIL recruits.
Ben Gardane in the south and Bizerte in the north have a long history
of producing foreign fighters, and the country’s capital Tunis has
increasingly become a hot spot for recruitment, despite being the cradle
of the Arab Spring.
The report warned that returning fighters pose a particular threat to stability, especially for fragile states like Tunisia.
It also noted that the majority of foreign fighters are from Arab
countries within both the Middle East and the Maghreb region in North
Africa.
As of last October, Morocco’s official estimate was 1200, but the
number is believed to be higher. There are also an estimated 170
Algerian and 600 Libyan foreign fighters but these figures were based on
limited data.
And given ISIL’s growing presence in Libya, it seems to have become
more of a destination for foreign fighters, instead of a departure
point, as well as a transit hub for those traveling to and from Syria
and Iraq.
For countries within the Horn of Africa, there was limited data, but
there are reports of dozens of Somalians, Sudanese, and Eritreans
engaged in Syria.