CANBERRA, Australia, Feb 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The fate of as many as 100 Australians, who left the country to fight for the Daesh, 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 confirmed that around 100 Australians, who fought for or support “the 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.
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 the Daesh 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 Daesh 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.”– NNN-AGENCIES