Report: More than one-third of Western volunteers fighting ISIS are American

A new report estimates that more than 100 Americans have gone to Syria and Iraq to join militia groups fighting the Islamic State.

The Institute for Strategic Dialogue's report, published Tuesday, draws from a database of 300 foreign fighters from Western nations who have social media accounts, ABC News reports. It's believed that more than a third of those volunteers are from the United States, with most being male and several of them veterans. A majority are serving in Kurdish militias.

While each volunteer has his own reasons for fighting, "the primary grievance relates to atrocities being committed against civilians, with many accusing world leaders of turning a blind eye to the ongoing suffering of those caught up in the conflict," the report says. Some are "motivated by a search for personal fulfillment, adventure, and excitement, or even a base urge to fight," while military veterans could be having difficulty adjusting to civilian life or want to "finish the job ... For these fighters, the state of affairs in the region has led them to feel that the death or suffering of civilians and fellow military personnel has been largely in vain."

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