Germany's domestic intelligence chief says more than 210 people are known to have travelled from Germany to Syria, and at least 15 have returned from the country's civil war with battle experience.
Hans-Georg Maassen told German news agency dpa in an interview published Saturday that he believes "significantly more" people have travelled to Syria than authorities have identified but he can't estimate how many.
Maassen says that 10 people from Germany apparently have died in Syria and about 50 people are believed to have returned including 15 or 16 Islamic extremists with fighting experience. He says they're capable of "committing serious acts of violence, and we will have to watch them closely."
Rebels against Syrian President Bashar Assad's government range in ideology from secular to hard-line Islamic extremists.
- AP
