Over 2,000 nationals abroad fighting alongside Takfiri militants: Saudi ministry

Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry has acknowledged that more than 2,000 of its citizens have traveled to other countries, including Syria, to join Takfiri militant groups.

“The number of Saudis proven to be in conflict areas is 2,093,” the ministry spokesman General Mansour al-Turki told daily newspaper Al-Hayat on Monday, adding that over 70 percent of them, or 1,540, were fighting alongside anti-Damascus militant groups in Syria.

Syria has blamed Saudi Arabia, along with certain other countries in the Middle East, for the devastating spread of militancy across the country, saying if it was not for the support of governments like the one in Riyadh, the militants could never capture large areas of land in the Arab country.

Most of the militant and terrorist groups, including Daesh and those linked to al-Qaeda, have enjoyed support from Saudi Arabia, reports say. Even groups designated by the West as moderate opposition, have received funding and weaponry from Saudi Arabia and its allies.