Experts: Up to 30 UK Extremists Now Dead in Syria,Toll Will Rise with ISIL Lure

Local Editor

Up to 30 British extremists are now believed to have died fighting alongside so-called "Daesh" [ISIL] and other terror groups in Syria, latest estimates suggest.

The stream of reported deaths could serve as an inspiration for other would-be extremists to head for Syria rather than as a deterrent, experts have warned.

Senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, Raffaello Pantucci, said: "The narrative for why people are going out there changes and evolves over time."
"If you are going out there to fight and are motivated by the idea of "jihad" then you are not going to be put off by the deaths, some might even be inspired by them," he said.

Furthermore, professor of Cultural Psychiatry and Epidemiology, Kamaldeep Bhui, at Queen Mary University of London, said radicalization should be treated as a health issue in the same way as drugs or alcohol abuse.
He said those on the path to radicalization were most likely to be educated and come from wealthy families, but felt bored with their lives and were socially isolated.
He added that girls were just as likely to start down to path to radicalization as boys.
 
More than 500 Britons are believed to have travelled to Syria to fight, half of which may have already returned. Police and the security services fear some may now be a threat to the UK and will use their experiences and training in Syria to plot attacks in the country.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team