US says many Americans trying to join Syrian rebels

The Americans’ numbers are small — intelligence officials would not be more precise than saying “dozens” were involved — and they have so far not distinguished themselves on the battlefield. But they are part of what officials said was a growing presence of foreigners who are fighting Assad’s government.

“It’s a very steady increase,and I expect that to continue as long as the fighting there continues,” a senior American intelligence official said. The influx of young Muslims with Western passports into Syria has raised fears among American and European intelligence officials of a new terrorist threat when the fighters return home.

In Syria,the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has emerged as the leader in attracting foreign fighters as it exploits the chaos of the civil war and tries to lay the groundwork for an Islamic state.