The U.S. military is detaining hundreds of foreign fighters in Iraq representing 25 countries, a senior U.S. military official said Friday in Baghdad.
Still, the vast majority of insurgents are Iraqis.
"We've got, oh, roughly 10,800 -- give or take -- prisoners. I think there are like 357, 358, something like that, third-country nationals, some of whom have been in Iraq for many, many years," the senior official said.
Almost half are from Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iran, the official said; there are roughly 50 from each of the three countries.
The Iranian fighters are likely Shi'ites but are fighting alongside the largely Sunni insurgency, joining up with Ansar al Islam/Ansar al Sunnah in northern Iraq, the official said.
"None of these (Iranian fighters), I would say, are state sponsored by any stretch of the imagination," the official said.
© Copyright 2005 by United Press International
