Netherlands raises its terrorist threat level
Source: Agencies |
March 14, 2013, Thursday
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Print Edition
THE Dutch government raised its terror threat yesterday amid concerns that Dutch citizens traveling to Syria to fight in the civil war could return battle-hardened, traumatized and further radicalized.
The government cited the threat posed by jihad fighters returning from Syria, where rebels are battling government forces, and signs of increasing radicalization among Dutch youth as key reasons for lifting its threat level from "limited" to "substantial." The level now is the second-highest on the four-step scale, just below "critical."
"The chance of an attack in the Netherlands or against Dutch interests abroad has risen," the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism said.
The warning comes just two months before hundreds of thousands of people are expected to descend on Amsterdam for mass celebrations around the abdication of Queen Beatrix and coronation of her son Crown Prince Willem-Alexander.
Counter-terror chief Dick Schoof said nearly 100 people had travelled from the Netherlands to Africa and the Middle East, mainly to Syria, to fight, and warned that it is not just a Dutch problem.
Jihadist travelers
"These jihadist travelers can return to the Netherlands highly radicalized, traumatized and with a strong desire to commit violence, thus posing a significant threat to this country," Schoof said.
He said that several fighters have already returned to the Netherlands and are being monitored.
Government terror experts also say that political upheavals in North Africa and the Mideast are giving terror networks room to grow.
Schoof said Dutch intelligence and law enforcement agencies are working with other European allies to contain the threat. More intelligence staff are monitoring "jihadist travelers" and police are stepping up efforts to tackle radicalization in Dutch towns and cities.
Last month, France also expressed concerns about its citizens heading to Mali to join radical Islamic fighters there, even as the French army was fighting the Muslim rebels in its former colony.
German Interior Ministry said yesterday that some 220 people from across Europe went to Syria to fight in 2012.
The government cited the threat posed by jihad fighters returning from Syria, where rebels are battling government forces, and signs of increasing radicalization among Dutch youth as key reasons for lifting its threat level from "limited" to "substantial." The level now is the second-highest on the four-step scale, just below "critical."
"The chance of an attack in the Netherlands or against Dutch interests abroad has risen," the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism said.
The warning comes just two months before hundreds of thousands of people are expected to descend on Amsterdam for mass celebrations around the abdication of Queen Beatrix and coronation of her son Crown Prince Willem-Alexander.
Counter-terror chief Dick Schoof said nearly 100 people had travelled from the Netherlands to Africa and the Middle East, mainly to Syria, to fight, and warned that it is not just a Dutch problem.
Jihadist travelers
"These jihadist travelers can return to the Netherlands highly radicalized, traumatized and with a strong desire to commit violence, thus posing a significant threat to this country," Schoof said.
He said that several fighters have already returned to the Netherlands and are being monitored.
Government terror experts also say that political upheavals in North Africa and the Mideast are giving terror networks room to grow.
Schoof said Dutch intelligence and law enforcement agencies are working with other European allies to contain the threat. More intelligence staff are monitoring "jihadist travelers" and police are stepping up efforts to tackle radicalization in Dutch towns and cities.
Last month, France also expressed concerns about its citizens heading to Mali to join radical Islamic fighters there, even as the French army was fighting the Muslim rebels in its former colony.
German Interior Ministry said yesterday that some 220 people from across Europe went to Syria to fight in 2012.
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