Radicalised Belgian teens found in Paris

Radicalised Belgian teens found in Paris
A Belgian mother of two who returned to the country from Syria has been conditionally released by a Bruges court. Credit: © Belga

Two Belgian teens, believed to have been radicalised, have been brought back to the country after being found out in Paris by local authorities at the weekend, a spokesperson for the Belgian federal prosecutor confirmed on Wednesday.

Paris prosecutors have opened an investigation after the two Belgian teenage girls were found in a building in the north of Paris at the end of last week, according to reports by French daily Le Figaro, which the prosecutor's spokesperson, Wenke Roggen, confirmed.

One of the two teens had been flagged by Belgium's State Security Service after she tried on two separate occasions to travel to Syria.

Originally from West Flanders, the two girls, aged 15 and 18, had reportedly travelled to Paris on Friday, June 14, to meet a radicalised man, who according to the French daily tried to enlist them and convince them to go to Egypt with him to join the Islamic State.

The individual, a 29-year-old French national, stopped them from returning to Belgium and prevented them from leaving his apartment.

The girls were expected back in their Flanders homes on Sunday, but when they failed to return, their families alerted the authorities.

Authorities were able to track them down to Paris' 9th arrondissement thanks to one of the girl's social media accounts, Snapchat, through which she sent images to her family and friends.

The 29-year-old French national was detained and his file is being handled by French counter-terrorism and criminal units, according to Le Figaro.

Belgian authorities are expected to bring the two teens, who returned to Belgium on Saturday, in for questioning at a date that has not yet been confirmed, according to Le Soir.

Gabriela Galindo

The Brussels Times


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