Foreign fighters keep flocking to Syria

The number of foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq has more than doubled since last year to at least 27,000, according to a report by the
Soufan Group security consultancy
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOREIGN FIGHTER GROWTH
2015 2014

FOREIGN FIGHTERS IN SYRIA AND IRAQ
Estimates for selected countries
Compiled from government estimates, UN reports, studies by research bodies, academic sources and other sources quoting government officials

North America 280 100
Africa 8,000 4,700
Western Europe 5,000 2,500
Syria
Iraq 8,240 2,900
Balkans 875 120
Former Soviet republics 4,700 800
Southeast Asia 900 50
Middle East 8,240 2,900
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WESTERN EUROPE
France 1,700
Germany 760
United Kingdom 760
Belgium 470
Austria 300
Sweden 300
Netherlands 220
Spain 133
Denmark 125
Italy 87 
Norway 81
Finland 70
Switzerland 57
Ireland 30
Portugal 12

NORTH AMERICA
United States 150
Canada 130

MIDDLE EAST
Saudi Arabia 2,500
Turkey 2,000 - 2,200
Jordan 2,000+
Lebanon 900
Kuwait 70
Israel 40-50

ASIA AND PACIFIC
Indonesia 700
China 300
Maldives 200
Australia 120
Malaysia 100
Philippines 100
Pakistan 70
Afghanistan 50
India 23
New Zealand 5-10
Japan 9

FORMER EASTERN BLOC
Russia 2,400
Krgyzstan 500
Uzbekistan 500
Tajikistan 386
Turkmenistan 360
Bosnia 330
Kazakhstan 300
Kosovo 232
Macedonia 146
Azerbaijan 104+
Albania 90
Serbia 50-70

AFRICA
Tunisia 6,000
Morocco 1,200
Egypt 600+
Libya 600
Algeria 170
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: The Soufan Group
Picture: Associated Press