335 Belgians fight in ISIS ranks in Iraq and Syria

(IraqiNews.com) On Saturday, Belgian authorities announced that, 335 of its citizens are fighting in the ranks of the ISIS organization in Iraq and Syria, and attributed the reason to the presence of many young unemployed Muslims in Belgium.

The site of the U.S. newspaper ‘Star Times’ quoted Chief Executive of the European Center for Strategic Intelligence and Security, Claude Moniquet as saying, “The Belgian authorities estimated that 335 civilians have been fighting with the terrorist ISIS organization in Iraq and Syria over the past few years.”

Moniquet added that, “The security operation carried out by Belgian police last Thursday led to the killing of two militants and the arrest of 13 others in raids on a cell for veterans in Syria, suspected of planning attacks. It might have helped to eliminate the threats in the short term, but it’s not over .”

Moniquet indicated that, “Basically the problem lays in that a large number of the population of young Muslims in Belgium without jobs or future, forcing them to extremism and terrorism,” pointing out that, “Fear is represented in the return of those fighters into the country.”