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Legion of Foreign Fighters Battles for Islamic State
(AP-ABC News) John-Thor Dahlburg and Misha Dzhindzhikhashvili - Between 16,000 and 17,000 men and a small number of women from 90 countries have streamed to Syria and Iraq to wage Muslim holy war for the Islamic State, according to one independent Western estimate. They include 3,300 Western Europeans and 100 Americans, according to the International Center for the Study of Radicalization at King's College London. Ten to 15% are believed to have died in action. According to a study by German security authorities, among people leaving that country for Syria out of "Islamic extremist motives," 65% were believed to have prior criminal records and 61% were German-born.