‘Hundreds’ of Americans Linked to ISIL
Washington (Dispatches) -- Several hundred U.S. citizens may have had contact with ISIL terrorists in Syria, the chairman of the powerful House Intelligence Committee said.
Republican lawmaker Mike Rogers, a former FBI agent, told "Fox News Sunday" he was concerned about efforts to keep track of Americans who had links to the group.
"It's in the hundreds that have at least one time traveled, participated and trained with them," Rogers said.
"Some have drifted back, some have gone to Europe."
The U.S. State Department has previously estimated that more than 100 U.S. citizens had traveled to Syria to join radical groups such as the ISIL.
"I'm very concerned because we don't know every single person who has an American passport that has gone and trained and learned how to fight," Rogers said.
He also raised concerns about the estimated 500 British citizens and "several hundred" Canadians believed to have traveled to Syria, noting that passport holders from those countries could both enter the United States without a visa.
U.S. officials last week confirmed an American fighting for ISIL was killed earlier this month in Syria.
Separately Sunday, another U.S. lawmaker said a strategy to fight militants in Syria could become clearer next week.
"We don't have the information which hopefully we'll have in the next week or so what the plans are going to be," Dutch Ruppersberger -- the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee -- told CNN's "State of the Union."
"A lot of it is classified. You don't tell an enemy you're coming in to attack them. That's the number one issue. You don't respond to the media. You respond to the endgame."
On Monday, Human Rights Watch said ISIL militants have used cluster munitions in Syria in at least one location.
The New York-based group, citing reports from local Kurdish officials and photographic evidence, said ISIL had used cluster bombs on July 12 and August 14.
They were deployed in fighting around the town of Ayn al-Arab in Aleppo province, near the border with Turkey, in clashes between the militant group and local Kurdish fighters.
The group said it was believed to be the first time ISIL had used cluster bombs, and it was unclear how it had acquired them.
Cluster munitions contain dozens or hundreds of small bomblets and can be fired in rockets or dropped from the air.
They spread explosives over large areas and are indiscriminate in nature, often continuing to maim and kill long after the initial attack when previously unexploded bomblets detonate.
"Any use of cluster munitions deserves condemnation, but the best response is for all nations to join the treaty banning them and work collectively to rid the world of these weapons," said HRW arms division director Steve Goose.
More than 191,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict there began in March 2011, according to the United Nations.
"It's in the hundreds that have at least one time traveled, participated and trained with them," Rogers said.
"Some have drifted back, some have gone to Europe."
The U.S. State Department has previously estimated that more than 100 U.S. citizens had traveled to Syria to join radical groups such as the ISIL.
"I'm very concerned because we don't know every single person who has an American passport that has gone and trained and learned how to fight," Rogers said.
He also raised concerns about the estimated 500 British citizens and "several hundred" Canadians believed to have traveled to Syria, noting that passport holders from those countries could both enter the United States without a visa.
U.S. officials last week confirmed an American fighting for ISIL was killed earlier this month in Syria.
Separately Sunday, another U.S. lawmaker said a strategy to fight militants in Syria could become clearer next week.
"We don't have the information which hopefully we'll have in the next week or so what the plans are going to be," Dutch Ruppersberger -- the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee -- told CNN's "State of the Union."
"A lot of it is classified. You don't tell an enemy you're coming in to attack them. That's the number one issue. You don't respond to the media. You respond to the endgame."
On Monday, Human Rights Watch said ISIL militants have used cluster munitions in Syria in at least one location.
The New York-based group, citing reports from local Kurdish officials and photographic evidence, said ISIL had used cluster bombs on July 12 and August 14.
They were deployed in fighting around the town of Ayn al-Arab in Aleppo province, near the border with Turkey, in clashes between the militant group and local Kurdish fighters.
The group said it was believed to be the first time ISIL had used cluster bombs, and it was unclear how it had acquired them.
Cluster munitions contain dozens or hundreds of small bomblets and can be fired in rockets or dropped from the air.
They spread explosives over large areas and are indiscriminate in nature, often continuing to maim and kill long after the initial attack when previously unexploded bomblets detonate.
"Any use of cluster munitions deserves condemnation, but the best response is for all nations to join the treaty banning them and work collectively to rid the world of these weapons," said HRW arms division director Steve Goose.
More than 191,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict there began in March 2011, according to the United Nations.