By Tommy Hansen
COPENHAGEN
The number of citizens leaving Norway to join the ranks of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, may be more than double that officially estimated, according to Norwegian police.
The comments to The Anadolu Agency by the Norwegian Police Security Agency, or PST, on Tuesday followed media reports saying that up to 140 Norwegian citizens were believed to have left the country since the second half of 2012 to fight with the militant group in northern Iraq – more than double the number previously estimated in March.
"We know for a fact that more than 60 people have left the country in order to join (ISIL), around 20 have returned and 12 have reportedly been killed," the head of communications of the Norwegian security agency, Trond Hugubakken, told The Anadolu Agency on Tuesday.
"The total number may very likely be larger, but we have no information to back up the current media claims,” said Hugubakken.
“There have been several speculative reports in the Norwegian media during the last couple of weeks, the latest one today, but the PST stands firmly by its threat assessment released in March,” said Hugubakken.
In March, the police security agency issued an annual threat assessment warning of a number of the country's citizens leaving the country to join groups fighting in Syria.
A report from the Norwegian Counter-Terror Center during the summer also estimated the number to be around 50, saying it was quite a high level per-capita compared to other Western countries.
Norwegian newspaper Dagsavisen reported on Tuesday that "several insiders" with knowledge on the extremist group Profetens Ummah, based in Norway, estimated the latest figures to reach around 140.
“We have to expect that there are more people who have travelled to Syria than we know of,” Martin Bernsen, a senior advisor to the Norwegian Police Security Agency, told the newspaper.
"Some have travelled in order to serve in the (ISIL-proclaimed) caliphate. Others to visit, or search for, their children,” he said.
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