14-YEAR-OLD ARRESTED IN BRUSSELS ON SUSPICION OF PLANNING MOSQUE ATTACK

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A 14-year-old teenager suspected of having extreme far-right views was arrested Thursday in Brussels for allegedly planning to carry out a “terrorist” attack against a mosque, officials said.

The suspect “who is said to be a member of the far-right movement, was planning to commit an attack on a mosque on Friday”, Belgian prosecutors said in a statement.

Prosecutors said that following a tip-off they seized weapons and arrested the suspect during a dawn raid on the youth’s home.

The teen — who was expected to be placed in a youth detention facility — was suspected of “preparing a terrorist attack”, the statement said.

Prosecutors gave no further details but Belgium’s justice minister Paul Van Tigchelt earlier told lawmakers the suspect was aged 14.

The minister was being questioned by MPs about the high proportion of minors among the hundreds of people being monitored by Belgium’s intelligence services for alleged radicalisation.

Belgium’s national intelligence service said in its annual report released this month that over the past two years “almost one-third” of people believed to have plotted attacks were under 18.

“The radicalisation process of these young people is developing much more quickly than in the past,” Van Tigchelt told lawmakers.

He pointed to the dangers of potential “brainwashing” of minors via social media.

Currently, around 600 people are listed as extremists who are subject to special monitoring by the Belgian authorities.

A large majority of those under supervision are suspected jihadists but about 60 were listed for far-right beliefs in 2022.

AFP