UN: Foreign Fighters in Terror Groups Unequaled; Seen as a Basis of Terrorist Acts for Many Years

A new United Nations report says the world is facing a challenge of foreign fighters in terror groups on an "unprecedented scale," with about 15,000 in Syria and Iraq alone, the Newsmax World website reports today (October 31, 2014).

The report by a panel of experts monitoring al-Qaida and the Taliban has been submitted to the U.N. Security Council.

The panel says fighters from more than 80 countries working with al-Qaida associates in Syria and Iraq "form the core of a new diaspora that may seed the threat for years to come," and that domestic terrorism could rise as fighters return to their home countries.

The report -- issued October 29 -- adds that the increasingly sophisticated use of social media is giving the Islamic State group a "cosmopolitan" appearance.