国产精品99一区二区三_免费中文日韩_国产在线精品一区二区_日本成人手机在线

100 Australian IS militants unaccounted for in Middle East: gov't

Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-18 11:55:52|Editor: mmm
Video PlayerClose

CANBERRA, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- The fate of as many as 100 Australians who left the country to fight for Islamic State (IS) remains unknown, the Australian government said.

Of the 230 Australians who travelled to the conflict zone in the Middle East to take up the fight for the jihadist militant group, nearly 100 have been confirmed dead and 40 have returned while a handful were caught and arrested.

The Department of Home Affairs has confirmed that around 100 Australians who fought for or supports "Islamic extremist groups" remain in Syria and Iraq but could not confirm how many are living, dead or captured.

"The government doesn't provide a running commentary on the status of individuals in the conflict zone for security reasons," a spokesperson told News Corp Australia on Monday.

"The Australian government's capacity to confirm reports of deaths in either Syria or Iraq is extremely limited."

It came as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is supported by the United States, prepares to seize the final 700 square km of territory held by IS in Syria including the town of Baghouz.

Greg Barton, a terrorism expert at Australia's Deakin University, said it was unlikely that many Australians remained in Baghouz.

"Clearly a lot of IS figures in northern Iraq and presumably a lot in Syria were not in this last stand and (there's) an unknown number in Turkey that may be many thousands," he said.

"So as to where the Australians are, my guess would be that quite a few are in Turkey.

"I don't think many of them will end up in this last siege. I think they would have gotten out in some of the negotiated evacuations of Raqqa and smaller settlements further east, or in other movements."

TOP STORIES
EDITOR’S CHOICE
MOST VIEWED
EXPLORE XINHUANET
010020070750000000000000011100001378308981
主站蜘蛛池模板: 衡阳市| 广南县| 英山县| 怀远县| 巨鹿县| 逊克县| 双柏县| 囊谦县| 嘉义县| 柞水县| 沙坪坝区| 凤山县| 正阳县| 新沂市| 甘肃省| 余姚市| 萨迦县| 来凤县| 巴林右旗| 兴海县| 延吉市| 神木县| 丹东市| 平塘县| 汉沽区| 山东省| 马山县| 凉山| 西藏| 叶城县| 曲阳县| 南乐县| 镇平县| 新河县| 绥江县| 通山县| 九江县| 运城市| 云南省| 清远市| 锦屏县|