Security officials prepare for return of jihadists as ISIS loses territory

According to a report by the Independent, security services are preparing plans to deal with the thousands of Western jihadists planning to return to Europe as ISIS continues to lose territory in Syria an Iraq.

Security officials have warned extremists, radicalised, armed and trained, will present a severe threat in the near future, as they try to escape the region, and have called for a more coordinated policy to manage and prevent the crisis.

According to official data, there are around 50 children from Britain currently in the self-declared ‘Islamic State’.

One British security official said: “What one does with these children need to be considered. Some of them have who have been used to carry out these criminal acts are below the age of criminal responsibility in many countries in Europe. We know of children from the West who had been taken to Syria, but there are also children who have been born there to European parents. As we know Daesh [Isis] are now bringing five-year-olds into their jihad.

“But the real problem would be with the thousands of adults. A number of states are liaising on this, but the policies will depend to an extent on political and legal considerations in individual states.”

“Isis will face big losses over the next year. Some of the foreign fighters will killed, some captured, but the others will try to flee, many back to Europe. It’s a real witch’s brew, quite a big problem: one which will not go away.”