Iraq News

Belgium guards against returning ISIL fighters

A year after the Brussels bombings, Belgium is more secure, but it faces the threat of returning "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) fighters as the group makes its last stand in Iraq and Syria, AFP reported Friday (March 10th).

"We have not seen any sign of a mass exodus so far, but I can assure you that every intelligence service in every country is working on it," interior minister Jan Jambon said.

Belgium is also working to address home-grown extremism.

With European extremists finding it harder to get to and from Syria and Iraq, he said, "ISIL no longer orders but inspires people to carry out attacks".

The intelligence services in Belgium and other countries are exchanging information to check for the possible return of extremists as ISIL loses territory in Iraq and Syria, he said.

The interior ministry has been training and deploying more police than ever, he added, who will increasingly fight the small criminal gangs from which many Belgian extremists have sprung.

The authorities also have been benefiting from the co-operation of the Belgian public, including Muslim community leaders, he said.

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