Recruitment to the Islamic State extremist group in Syria has plummeted in recent months, a monitoring group said Tuesday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that its sources - a network of activists across the war-torn country - reported a total of 120 new recruits joining the organization in the last two and a half months.
That contrasts with monthly figures reaching 1,200 last year, Observatory director Rami Abdel-Rahman told dpa.
At the height of the militant group's success last summer, after it captured Iraq's second city Mosul and declared its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi caliph and leader of all Muslims worldwide, the Observatory said 6,300 new fighters joined up in the cities of Aleppo and al-Raqqa.
Abdel Rahman said the group's recruitment of both Syrian nationals and foreign fighters was slowing.
The foreigners were being obstructed by western countries monitoring the departure of Islamists more closely.
Islamic State, which controls much of north-eastern and eastern Syria as well as adjoining Sunni-dominated areas of western and northern Iraq, was also hampered by financial problems, Abdel-Rahman said.
US-led airstrikes, which started last August, have repeatedly targeted small oil wells in Syria, which provided one of the group's main sources of funding.
The organization also appears to be suffering internal difficulties, with repeated reports from both Syria and Iraq of members being executed for breaches of discipline or attempts to evade combat.
Abdel-Rahman said that while the recruitment of adult fighters was dropping, the group was stepping up its attempts to enlist children, 400 of whom have joined up since the beginning of the year.
Islamic State has opened offices to recruit children to its youth wing, called the "Lion Cubs of the Caliphate," he said.
Two videos published by Islamic State in recent months have purported to show alleged spies - two Russians and a Palestinian - being executed by child members of the organization.
Islamic State recruitment plummeting
Recruitment to the Islamic State extremist group in Syria has plummeted in recent months, a monitoring group said Tuesday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that its sources - a network of activists across the war-torn country - reported a total of 120 new recruits joining the organization in the last two and a half months.
That contrasts with monthly figures reaching 1,200 last year, Observatory director Rami Abdel-Rahman told dpa.
At the height of the militant group's success last summer, after it captured Iraq's second city Mosul and declared its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi caliph and leader of all Muslims worldwide, the Observatory said 6,300 new fighters joined up in the cities of Aleppo and al-Raqqa.
Abdel Rahman said the group's recruitment of both Syrian nationals and foreign fighters was slowing.
The foreigners were being obstructed by western countries monitoring the departure of Islamists more closely.
Islamic State, which controls much of north-eastern and eastern Syria as well as adjoining Sunni-dominated areas of western and northern Iraq, was also hampered by financial problems, Abdel-Rahman said.
US-led airstrikes, which started last August, have repeatedly targeted small oil wells in Syria, which provided one of the group's main sources of funding.
The organization also appears to be suffering internal difficulties, with repeated reports from both Syria and Iraq of members being executed for breaches of discipline or attempts to evade combat.
Abdel-Rahman said that while the recruitment of adult fighters was dropping, the group was stepping up its attempts to enlist children, 400 of whom have joined up since the beginning of the year.
Islamic State has opened offices to recruit children to its youth wing, called the "Lion Cubs of the Caliphate," he said.
Two videos published by Islamic State in recent months have purported to show alleged spies - two Russians and a Palestinian - being executed by child members of the organization.
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