More and more young people in Belgium are involved in terrorism, the annual report of the State Security showed. The youngest person arrested was barely 13.
One third of the investigations by the State Security Service (VSSE) into individuals ready to commit violent acts have involved minors between 2022 and last year, L'Echo and De Morgen reported.
"There has been a sharp increase in the number of jihadist files and arrests in Europe since 2022," Administrator General Francisca Bostyn said.
Belgian intelligence and security services increasingly see people under 18 appear in their files. The youngest person who was involved in such violent acts was barely 13. The young person was arrested last year.
"It mainly concerns young people who produce and distribute propaganda material themselves," Bostyn said. "We see them less in the execution phase, but that does not alter the fact that they can be very dangerous. They glorify violence."
Foiled attacks
However, sometimes these minors are also involved in planning an attack. For example, four minors, aged between 15 and 18, were arrested for discussing plans to commit a terror attack on the Botanique concert hall in Brussels in March 2024. The minors were involved in a terror cell of Muslim extremists.
Three in four cases investigated by the VSSE and involving minors since 2022 concerned jihadist files. "Overall, there has been a significant rise in the number of jihadist cases and arrests in Europe since 2022," said Bostyn.
Belgium's terror alert level still sits at 3 (out of 4). This level is reasonably high and indicates that a threat is possible and likely. The threat level was raised from 2 to 3 for the first time in over five years following the attack in Brussels on 16 October 2023.
