 As of 2010, their number was estimated at between 200 and 300 militants, augmented by around 1,000 diasporan ethnic Somalis.Many of al-Shabaab's foot soldiers also belong to Somalia's marginalized ethnic minorities from the farming south.Of the foreign members, Jonathan Evans, the former head of MI5, addressing a London security conference in 2010, advised that "a significant number of UK residents" were training with al-Shabaab.