About 20 Dutch jihadists from Utrecht: Mayor

Utrecht has been monitoring 19 alleged jihadists, Mayor Jan van Zanen wrote in a letter to the city council. According to information released by news portal DUIC on Wednesday, six are radicalized Utrecht residents who have gone abroad, nine have returned from abroad, two have been held from leaving the city and another couple have since died. In his letter, Utrecht's mayor insisted that the number of alleged jihadists be made public. What prompted this was the raid of the Overvecht home of an 18-year-old jihadist suspect whose passport was found during the anti-terrorist action in Verviers. One of the six suspected jihadists who left Utrecht is a minor. Their whereabouts are unknown. It is also unknown where the two deceased suspected jihadists were killed. The whereabouts of the nine jihadist suspects who returned (including four minors) are known, as are those of the two suspects held from leaving the city. According to Van Zanen, the number of radicalization incidents in Utrecht is relatively limited compared to other major cities. A total of 28 signals of radicalization has been received by the municipality through community police officers, youth workers, family, friends and schools. These signals were investigated and discussed in consultation with the police an Public Prosecutors. Seventeen of these signals eventually proved to not be related to radicalization, Van Zanen wrote.