(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) PARIS, Oct 26 (KUNA) -- More than 240 so-called "foreign" fighters have returned to France since 2012 and another 50 minors came back from the conflict zones in Syria and Iraq, Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said Thursday.
Speaking at the French Senate, Collomb said that French security services had the situation under control and that since 2015, fighters, male or female, and their children systematically detained for questioning, French media reported.
"France Info" radio quoted Collomb as attesting that 130 individuals were currently in prison after their return from fighting with so-called Islamic State (IS).
Asked by Senators about concerns regarding the return of fighters, Collomb assured the parliamentary body that the issue "is completely in hand today." He added that France and Turkey had a cooperation agreement to help vet anyone returning from the conflict zones.
More than 1,000 French nationals or residents here left to fight with IS and about 300 have been killed, but hundreds remain in the region, or either captured or on the run.
Estimates by the Justice Ministry here put the number of French nationals still in Iraq and Syria at 700, with 300 of them women. In addition, there believed to be 400 children with them. (end) jk.hb
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