CIA Ups Estimate Of Islamic State Fighters In Iraq And Syria
NPR
Friday, September 12, 2014
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In a statement, an agency spokesperson said they believe the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, "can muster" between 20,000 and 31,500 fighters in those two countries.
Transcript
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Let's recall the size of the enemy the United States wants to confront. There are conflicting estimates of how many troops ISIS can field. No estimate depicts the group as especially large. In the past, the CIA estimated the group included about 10,000 militants. Its success capturing territory inside Iraq and Syria and then the propaganda advance of declaring a caliphate has attracted new recruits. The new CIA estimate is not so precise, but it's a lot bigger - 20,000 to 31,000 fighters. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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