Thousands of Isis fighters could return to Europe, security chief warns

Thousands of Islamic State foreign fighters could return to Europe after their dreams of a “caliphate” were crushed with the fall of their stronghold of Raqqa in northern Syria, the EU’s security commissioner has warned.

Julian King said some of them may be intent on terror attacks.

“We have a list of about 8,000 potential foreign terrorist fighters that have been highlighted by European member states which is held by Europol,” he told the BBC.

“Not all of those are EU nationals, but in every case there is a possibility they might seek to return to Europe.

“Some are going to die, some are going to seek to go elsewhere, to continue what they regard as their struggle. But a number may seek to come back to Europe, and we need to be ready to try and deal with it.”

Hundreds of young men, and some women, travelled from Britain, France, Germany and Belgium to Syria to join IS, with large numbers also going from other EU nations.