UN: Growing number of foreigners in terror groups

NEW YORK: A new UN report says the world is facing a challenge from foreigners traveling to fight in terror groups on an “unprecedented scale,” with about 15,000 in Syria and Iraq alone.
The report by a panel of experts monitoring Al-Qarda and the Taleban, obtained on Friday by The Associated Press, has been submitted to the UN Security Council.
The panel says fighters from more than 80 countries working with Al-Qaeda associates in Syria and Iraq “form the core of a new diaspora that may seed the threat for years to come.”
The report adds that the increasingly sophisticated use of social media is giving the Islamic State group a “cosmopolitan” appearance.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, meanwhile, says the international community is focusing too much on the battle over Kobani and is calling for strikes in other parts of Syria.
Speaking at a news conference with French President Francois Hollande, Erdogan said, “We’re only talking about Kobani, a city on the Turkish border where there is almost no one left besides 2,000 fighters.”
“It’s difficult to understand this approach: why are coalition forces continually bombarding Kobani. Why don’t the coalition forces want to act in other zones?” Erdogan said.
Hollande said he considers Aleppo to be the most important city in the Syrian war, but Kobani remains important “even emptied of its population.”
He said he’s confident Erdogan will allow reinforcements to reach Kobani from Turkey.