Head of terrorist threat agency: 'Belgian fighters in Syria should be brought back'
The director of CUTA, the agency that monitors Belgium's terrorist threat, warned about Belgian Syria fighters being held in prisons and camps in the Middle East. “For our own safety, it would be better to bring them back,” Gert Vercauteren told De Standaard.
On 27 November, several rebel groups, led by the Islamic militia Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), launched an attack on the Syrian government army, ousting president Bashar al-Assad. Belgian security services are closely monitoring developments in Syria, Vercauteren confirmed.
A dozen Belgians are affiliated with HTS, but Vercauteren does not believe there is a likelihood of their return.
“The risk that they would return to Belgium seems small,” he said. According to CUTA, the most significant risk to security in Belgium lies in the prisons in the northeast of Syria, where Belgians are still being held. These are men who went into the conflict zone years ago to fight with the Islamic State.
“We are talking about 13 men. They do not all have Belgian nationality, but they do have a link with our country,” Vercauteren said. “In addition, there are still eight Belgian women and nine children in the Al-Hol and Al-Roj camps today.”
He warned of potential mass escapes or closures of the camps under pressure from the new regime. “Many of these prisoners will seek shelter with an IS faction in the region, but others may return to Western Europe. That poses security risks for our country.”
CUTA director Gert Vercauteren © BELGA PHOTO JAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE
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