Obama admits US underestimated IS threat

United States president Barack Obama has acknowledged his intelligence officials underestimated the threat from Islamic State militants inside Syria.

In an interview with CBS's 60 Minutes program, Mr Obama said Syria had now become "ground zero" for jihadists, including fighters from Australia.

He said IS propagandists had become "very savvy" with social media and lured new recruits "who believed in their jihadist nonsense".

"[They] travelled everywhere from the Europe to the United States to Australia to other parts of the Muslim world, converging on Syria, and so this became ground zero for jihadists around the world," he said.

more: Obama admits US underestimated IS threat

United States president Barack Obama has acknowledged his intelligence officials underestimated the threat from Islamic State militants inside Syria.

In an interview with CBS's 60 Minutes program, Mr Obama said Syria had now become "ground zero" for jihadists, including fighters from Australia.

He said IS propagandists had become "very savvy" with social media and lured new recruits "who believed in their jihadist nonsense".

"[They] travelled everywhere from the Europe to the United States to Australia to other parts of the Muslim world, converging on Syria, and so this became ground zero for jihadists around the world," he said.