NATO chief: Foreign fighters 'real threat to society'

BERLIN

Foreign fighters have become a real threat to society and a stronger cooperation between intelligence services is needed, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday.

“The numbers of foreign fighters have increased and they are much closer to our borders,” Stoltenberg told journalists at a press conference in Berlin. “Afghanistan is very far away, but Iraq and Syria are very close.”

The EU’s law enforcement agency Europol estimates there are between 10,000 and 12,000 foreign fighters who have been recruited recently by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorist group. An estimated 2,500 of them are of European origin.

The NATO chief also said that the recent terrorist attacks in France have revealed the changing security environment.

“NATO has to address these new challenges and threats,” Stoltenberg said. “We have already decided to increase the exchange of information among the allies related to returning foreign fighters.”

Stoltenberg also said that the alliance will focus more on training and developing new technologies in order to strengthen the fight against terrorism. 

Twelve people, including prominent journalists and cartoonists, were killed last Wednesday when masked gunmen attacked the Paris headquarters of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical magazine known for printing offensive material, including derogatory cartoons of Prophet Muhammad.

Said and Cherif Kouachi, two brothers and the suspected perpetrators, were killed by police on Friday in a warehouse in Dammartin-en-Goele, a small town north of Paris.