The US Federal Bureau of investigation expressed concern over Americans going to Syria to fight against the Syrian government, saying they would be radicalized after returning to the US.

The US Federal Bureau of investigation expressed concern over Americans going to Syria to fight against the Syrian government, saying they would be radicalized after returning to the US.

“We are focused on trying to figure out what our people are up to, who should be spoken to, who should be followed, who should be charged,” director of the FBI James Comey said during a question-and-answer session with reporters on Thursday.

 “People, including Americans, can go to Syria and learn about dangerous techniques, and it's easy to get in and get out.”

“My concern is that people can go to Syria, develop new relationships, learn new techniques and become far more dangerous, and then flow back” to the US, he added.

Also on Thursday,The New York Times reported that al-Qaeda-linked groups in Syria are trying to identify, recruit and train Americans and other Westerners who have traveled there to get them to carry out attacks when they return home.

The daily quoted senior American intelligence and counterterrorism officials as saying that the Syrian conflict “has become a magnet for Westerners seeking to fight with the rebels against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.”

Earlier, the US newspaper reported that  at least 70 Americans have either gone to Syria or tried to go there in order to fight alongside insurgents against the Syrian government.

Washington is now worried that al-Qaeda-linked groups might have recruited and trained Americans who have gone to Syria in order to get them to carry out attacks when they return to the US.

European officials are sharing the same worries as analysts say at least 1,200 Europeans have gone to Syria to fight against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

According to US officials, most of the Americans who have gone to Syria are still there while a few have been killed.