DHAKA: French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Wednesday that ‘close to 50’ French citizens have been killed fighting alongside jihadists in Syria.

A government source told the media the precise number, as of Monday, was estimated at 49, reports The Straits Times.

‘We know the number of French nationals, more than a thousand, who are involved in this phenomenon,’ Valls said after a security meeting in Beauvais, north of Paris.

‘We know the number of French who have died in Syria, close to 50, so we know the dangers and, sadly, we are not surprised to learn that French citizens or residents of France are found at the heart of these cells and taking part in this barbarity,’ he added.

BDST: 2126 HRS, NOV 19, 2014