Syria Support Movement solidarity with the Syrian people
Oct 26, 2013, Press TV
“There are well over 210 people, that we know of, who have gone to Syria,” said Hans-Georg Maassen, the president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), on Saturday.
The official also expressed concern over the return of the German-born gunmen who are fighting alongside militants in Syria, saying, “I assume that about 50 people have come back, but there are probably only 15 or 16 who have definitely returned to us with battle experience.”
Referring to German women who join the extremists travelling to the Arab country, Maassen said, “At least 10 woman have accompanied men there.”
He believes that they are capable of “committing serious acts of violence, and we will have to watch them closely.”
Maassen says however that the overall number of people traveling to Syria is far greater than the figure German authorities have been able to identify.
Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. According to reports, the Western powers and their regional allies — especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey — are supporting the militants operating inside Syria.
According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 people have been killed and millions displaced in the violence.
The UN also says more than four million other Syrians will be forced out of their homes in 2014 by the escalating conflict in the country.
Two million Syrians are expected to take refuge outside the country while another 2.25 million are predicted to be internally displaced during the next year.
