NBC News - Gen. James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, told Congress the intelligence community now estimates that 3,400 citizens from Western nations have traveled to Syria and Iraq. That's 700 more than November's estimate of 2,700 -- though officials say some portion of the higher headcount represents improved intelligence, not new recruits....
The U.S. intelligence community has also upped its estimate of the number of foreign fighters from all over the world, not just the West. Clapper said that ISIS now has 20,000 foreign fighters, up from 16,000 last fall, out of a total fighting force of as many as 31,000...
U.S. agencies have differed on the overall size of the ISIS fighting force, with the intelligence community sticking with a range of 20,000 to 31,500 while the Pentagon thinks the number could be as low as 17,000. The intelligence community's estimate is built on reports from other intelligence agencies in the Arab world and the West. Those numbers often cover different reporting periods and can be inconsistent in their specificity.
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