February 24, 2014 The terrorist threat in the Netherlands remains ‘substantial’, according to the latest threat report from the Dutch counter terrorism body NCTV. The risk remains at this level due to ongoing concerns about residents traveling to Syria to engage in armed conflict. NCTV says some 100 Dutch nationals have so far travelled to…
February 21, 2014 Update: Ten youth have now been refused a Dutch passport on the grounds that security services suspect the individuals may be planning to go to Syria. The spokesman for NCTV, the Dutch counter-terrorism unit, told broadcaster NOS that the passport applications were blocked because of fears the youth would return ‘radicalized…
1 March 2013 Anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders is listed in an apparent al-Qaeda death list, RTL news reports. The politician is listed fourth on a pastiche poster published online. A spokesman for the Dutch counter terrorism bureau noted that circulation of death lists is a popular al Qaeda tactic. Other names listed included Danish…
During a visit to America, Dutch Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin met with Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano to discuss the ways the Netherlands deals with ‘local terrorists’, such as Mohammed Bouyeri. Trouw reports that the American were particularly interested in the ways national security services in the Netherlands work.
The Dutch counter terrorism unit NCTb has downgraded the risk of a terrorist attack in the Netherlands to ‘limited’, its first reduction in two years. According to NCTb the reduction resulted from internal divisions and lack of leadership among terrorist organizations, and a shift in focus to theatres of international conflict. The “limited” level is…
