Fighters use social media to recruit.

Beirut - Western Muslims fighting in Syria are emerging from the shadows and using social media to share their experiences of the conflict and encourage others to join them.

On sites including Twitter, blogging platform Tumblr and the question-and-answer site Ask.fm, the young men are providing an unusual insight into one aspect of the brutal war.

They describe what they miss about home and what they ate for lunch, and extol the virtues of fighting with groups that Western governments deem "terrorist" organisations.

Their very public accounts come as Western governments warn about the potential dangers posed by the flow of young Muslims to the fight in Syria.

Britain, France and Holland each estimate that hundreds of their citizens are in Syria, and fear they could later launch attacks at home.

Ifthekar Jaman, aged 23, is from the British city of Portsmouth.

He was an active user of social media before he left Britain, maintaining several Twitter accounts, posting short videos on Keek.com and answering questions at Ask.fm