A teenager suspected of planning to attack a mosque was arrested Thursday in Brussels, and weapons were seized from his home, announced the prosecutor’s office in the Belgian capital.
The suspect, aged 14, who is said to be a sympathizer of the extreme right, “planned to commit an attack against a mosque this Friday, January 24, a day of prayer and crowds in mosques,” said the prosecution, without mentioning a specific location.
In a press release, the prosecution indicated that it had been informed of this project on Wednesday, based on “declassified confidential information”. Hence the decision to carry out a search of the suspect’s home on Thursday at dawn. “Weapons and computer equipment” were seized.
Speaking to MPs about the arrest, Justice Minister Paul Van Tigchelt noted that the suspect was “apparently of far-right persuasion”. He also highlighted “the nightmare” that young people radicalized online represented in general for the authorities. “The process of radicalization of these young people is developing much more quickly than in the past,” declared the minister, pointing out the “brainwashing” that certain young people addicted to social networks undergo.
-In its latest activity report published in mid-January, State Security – civil intelligence in Belgium – put the proportion of people under 18 among those involved in crimes at “nearly a third”. terrorism files. “Between 2022 and 2024, almost a third of people who planned attacks were under the age of 18. The process of online radicalization of these young people is dazzling,” noted State Security.
Currently around 600 people are registered as extremists who are subject to special monitoring by Ocam, the Belgian agency for analyzing the terrorist threat. A large majority belong to the jihadist movement, but some “on file” are also on file for their sympathies for far-right movements. There were around sixty of them in an Ocam count at the end of 2022, which did not distinguish between adults and minors.
Thursday, after this arrest in Brussels, the prosecution requested the placement of the suspect in a closed center for minors. He is suspected in particular of “preparing a terrorist attack”.
