The Irish Sun has revealed that Gardaí are monitoring 20 Irish jihadis that are operating in the Middle East.
Gardaí fear that those under surveillance might have plans to return to Ireland and plot attacks on their home country.
This comes after Gardaí's readiness for a terrorist attack was questioned after last week's death of a Japanese man in Dundalk where a "terror link" was initially one of the lines of inquiry followed by Gardaí.
The 20 jihadis on the list are known to be part of different groups such as IS and Free Syrian Army and many on the list are associates of Dubliner Khalid Kelly who Gardaí believe is "missing" and not dead.
A source told the publication that:
“There are 20 Irish nationals, some born here and some passport holders, who have fought in Syria and Iraq over the last few years.
“Some of them would be well known to Khalid Kelly and the Jordanian we booted out.
“A number of them are now missing. They have vanished and we don’t know where they are.
"They could be dead, travelling home or hiding out in Iraq. The simple fact is we fear what might happen if they return.
“[Kelly] is down as missing and it will remain that way until we have something concrete."
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