14-year-old arrested for planning attack on mosque
A 14-year-old boy was arrested in Belgium on Thursday for allegedly planning an attack on a mosque, the country's Justice minister told the Chamber of Representatives on the same day.
The case involved a boy of "right-wing extremist persuasion", outgoing minister Paul Van Tigchelt told a plenary session. He declined to give further details about the arrest.
Van Tigchelt made the statement in response to questions from MPs Sam Van Rooy and Darya Safai about a recent report by the State Security service, which showed an increase in the number of minors involved in terror cases.
One in three are minors
In recent years, almost one in three people who planned to commit violent acts in Belgium was younger than 18, the State Security wrote in its annual report published last week. "The online radicalisation process of these young people is moving at lightning speed," the report said.
"We see them less in the execution phase, but that does not change the fact that they can be very dangerous"
It mainly concerns young people who produce and distribute propaganda, Francisca Bostyn, the service's general administrator, told De Morgen on Friday. "We see them less in the execution phase, but that does not change the fact that they can be very dangerous. They glorify violence."
Minors sometimes do become involved in more concrete attack plans. Last year, a terrorist cell of Muslim extremists, consisting of three minors and an 18-year-old, was arrested for planning to attack a concert hall in Brussels.
Illustrative image © BELGA PHOTO JONAS ROOSENS
Related news
