ISIS army is 8 times larger than originally estimated says Kurdistan’s Chief of Staff

(IraqiNews.com) On Sunday the British newspaper ‘The Independent’ reported that ISIS has built a far larger army than was previously estimated by foreign intelligence services.

According to a senior Kurdish leader, the ability to attack on many fronts in both Iraq and Syria at the same time shows that the estimated number of ISIS fighters is wrong and they are at least seven or eight times bigger than what was said.

Fuad Hussein, Kurdistan’s chief of staff said in an interview with The Independent, “I am talking about hundreds of thousands of fighters because they are able to mobilize Arab young men in the territory they have taken.”

Hussein estimates that ISIS control an area of 250,000 square kilometers with a population of between 10 and 12 million people, and that gives the jihadis a large pool of potential new recruits.