France fears return of homegrown terrorsits from Syria

France has warned of a security threat posed by hundreds of homegrown militants who are currently operating in Syria or are planning to join militant groups combating for the overthrow of the Damascus government.

French Interior Minister Manuel Valls told France Inter radio on Thursday that over 300 French nationals or residents are either in Syria fighting alongside foreign-backed militants, or are planning to go and join the armed groups.

He noted that most of the homegrown militants were young people with a delinquent background.

“This is a phenomenon which worries me because they represent a potential danger when they return to our soil. We have to be extremely attentive,” Valls said.

Valls had previously warned that there are “several dozen, perhaps several hundred, potential Merahs in our country” and considered their presence in France as a ticking time bomb.

Last year, the al-Qaeda-inspired man, Mohamed Merah, shot dead seven people in and around the French city of Toulouse.

Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. According to reports, the Western powers and their regional allies — especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey — are supporting the militants operating inside Syria.

According to extracts from British defense consultancy IHS Jane’s published in Daily Telegraph, some 100,000 militants are fighting in Syria against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

The militants have split into some 1,000 brands since the Syria crisis began, said the study, which is based on intelligence estimates and interviews with militants.

Around 10,000 of the militants, with many being foreign nationals, are fighting for groups affiliated with al-Qaeda such as the al-Nusra Front and the rest fight for different militant groups.