FBI says it disrupted activities of dozens of potential IS recruits
Source: Yahoo! News / Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - FBI counterterrorism agents followed dozens of potential militants around the United States full time over the summer and disrupted activities pursued by many of them, FBI Director James Comey told a congressional committee on Thursday.
Comey also told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs that U.S. investigators knew of many U.S.-based Islamic militant suspects who used encrypted communications.
Nick Rasmussen, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, also speaking to the panel, estimated that about 250 Americans had traveled to fight or train in parts of Iraq and Syria where Islamic State militants have declared a caliphate.
But he noted this was relatively small given the total of about 5,000 westerners who U.S. and allied governments believed have joined the fight in the last three years.
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