#India tracking 18 desi jihadis in #Iraq, Syria

The security establishment is tracking 18 Indian citizens who have travelled to Iraq and Syria to fight as jihadis. As sectarian violence intensifies in these countries, India, along with other nations, is trying to track and prevent its citizens from joining this war.

These aspiring jihadis didn’t come from any extremist group, say intelligence sources, but were individually radicalized. Of the 18 under the scanner, Indian officials found that the jihadi ardour of six men had diminished considerably after they found they were being treated shabbily by their leaders. They later left Iraq and now live in other Gulf nations. The others remain in Iraq.