Three people charged with terrorism offenses in Belgium over recruitment terrorists

The Belgian authorities on Wednesday charged two Kosovars and a Serb with terrorist offenses over suspicions they helped recruit jihadists for Syria and raised funds for the Islamic State group.
A counter-terrorism judge kept in custody three of the eight people who were detained during raids across Belgium on Tuesday but released the remainder after questioning, federal prosecutors said.

“They were charged with participation in the activities of a terrorist group,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

It identified them as Egzona K., a 23-year-old Serb, Kastriot M., a 23-year-old Kosovar, and Mahid D., a 27-year-old Kosovar.

Following the raids on Tuesday, the prosecutor’s office said those arrested were “suspected to be involved with recruiting people to leave for Syria and with having financially supported IS.”

Belgium is the EU country with the highest per capita number of fighters who have joined jihad in Syria and Iraq, a figure estimated at 465.

No weapons nor explosives were found in the raids.

Belgium has been on high alert since suicide bombers struck Brussels airport and a metro station near the European Union headquarters on March 22, killing 32 people.

Those attacks were claimed by IS, which controls parts of Iraq and Syria and has claimed numerous terror strikes in Europe over the last year, including attacks in Paris which left 130 people dead.

Source: /Naharnet