Steep decline in U.S. recruits to ISIS, FBI chief James Comey says
https://www.yahoo.com/news/steep-decline-in-us-recruits-to-isis-fbi-chief-212138680.html
FBI Director James Comey said the Islamic State’s ability to recruit fighters from inside the U.S. to wage war in Syria and Iraq has sharply diminished over the past year, citing new figures that he says show the terror group has “lost significant power” inside the country.
“They’ve lost their ability to attract people to the caliphate from the United States,” Comey told reporters at a briefing at bureau headquarters Tuesday.
At the same time, Comey said the Islamic State is still attracting “troubled souls” through social media who pose potential terror threats, resulting in more than 1,000 active FBI investigations into online recruitment — a slight increase from over a year ago. He cited in particular the San Bernardino terrorists, Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, who the bureau has concluded were primarily influenced by what he called the Islamic State’s “poison and propaganda” online.
The comments by Comey amplify recent testimony and other public comments by government officials suggesting that U.S. counterterrorism efforts, both here and in the Middle East, have had some impact in blunting the Islamic State’s advance even while the group remains a persistent threat to launch attacks, especially in Western Europe.
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