Syria: UK ‘keeping close eye’ on British jihadists – minister

It is believed there are dozens of British jihadists being held captive in north-eastern Syria having been captured while fighting for the Islamic State group.

Asked about the prospect of them seeking to return to the UK, along with an influx of asylum claims from pro-Assad fighters, Dame Angela told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Of course it’s a concern and it’s a concern that we constantly act on.

“Obviously our security services will have an eye on any such things and we communicate and co-operate with our neighbours.”

The prime minister’s official spokesman said jihadists held in camps in Syria were a “key focus for the UK”.

“We are working with the US and our allies to monitor the situation on the ground,” he added.

Rebels led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) have been freeing detainees from prisons in the former Assad regime-held areas they now control in north-western, central and southern Syria.

But they do not currently operate in north-eastern Syria, which is mostly controlled by a Kurdish-led militia alliance supported by the United States, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The SDF is holding around 10,000 fighters in 26 detention facilities, and is also holding almost 46,000 people linked to IS, most of them women and children, at the al-Hol and Roj camps.

The primary risk of jihadists breaking out of prisons in north-east Syria comes from Turkey putting so much pressure on the Syrian Kurds who are guarding them that they have to abandon them. However, there is no indication that is the case at the moment, the BBC’s security correspondent Frank Gardner said.

Given the rapidly changing situation in Syria, there is an underlying risk that IS and al-Qaeda could try and profit from the confusion and expand their area of operations in northern Syria, he added.