700 French nationals living in Daesh-held Iraqi, Syrian regions: Official

About 700 French nationals, among them 500 children, are living in the Daesh-controlled areas of Iraq and Syria, a French official says, as fears grow over the threat posed by European members of the Takfiri terrorist group on their return to their homelands.

According to reports, an official at the French president’s office, whose name was not mentioned in reports, said on Friday that women made up one-third of the 700 French citizens in the Daesh-held territories.

He also said that half of the 500 French children were born in the Iraqi and Syrian regions under Daesh’s grip.

In total, he said, some 2,000 French nationals or residents had gone to the two countries, of whom 200- 300 had been killed.

Last month, France’s Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said 271 Takfiri militants had returned to the European country from war zones in Iraq and Syria and all of them had been subject to investigations by the public prosecutor.

He also warned that the threat of militant attacks was “very high” in France.

SS