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US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has warned that foreign-backed terrorist groups in Syria are preparing to attack Western targets.
Presenting an annual intelligence assessment on Wednesday, Clapper told the Senate Intelligence Committee that al-Qaeda-linked groups operating inside Syria have launched camps “to train” the foreign-backed militants to go back to their countries and carry out terrorist acts.
He also touched upon the plans of the al-Qaeda-linked groups in Syria for attacking targets in Western countries.
“Al-Nusra Front, to name one.... does have aspirations for attacks on the homeland,” Clapper stated.
He estimated that there are now about 26 thousand extremists in Syria, saying, the militants are from some 50 countries, including European states.
Clapper further described the al-Qaeda-linked militant groups in Syria as one of the newest groups bent on carrying out attacks in the United States.
Meanwhile, the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Dianne Feinstein, also warned that Syria could become “a launching point or way station for terrorists seeking to attack the United States or other nations.”
“Not only are fighters being drawn to Syria, but so are technologies and techniques that pose particular problems to our defenses.”
The presence of extremist groups in Syria has become a major concern for the United States and its European allies who have been supporting the militancy in Syria.
The warnings and concerns come despite revelations that the United States more than doubled its supply of weaponry and munitions to militants linked to the so-called Free Syrian Army’s Supreme Military Command in January. The military command is aligned with the Western-backed opposition Syrian National Coalition (SNC).
The United States has also delivered over 600 tons of military aid to militants since the talks on Syria known as Geneva II kicked off in Switzerland on January 22.