The Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service AIVD will put on separate lists of threatening individuals underage foreign rebel fighters in Syria as young as 9 years, according to Volkskrant citing its sources.
The change is emblematic of how the AIVD examines the radicalization of minors in Syria. The service gets more and more signs that children are being trained and actually taking part in hostilities, Volkskrant reported.
The kids are reported to be made to swear allegiance to ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, also called Caliph Ibrahim.
This makes for children of 9 years and older pose a similar threat as adults, says the AIVD. The focus of the security services is primarily on the minors who for some time were on the territory controlled by ISIL in Syria and Iraq and then traveled back to the Netherlands.
Information on such category of subjects of interest will be assigned a separate register and can be shared with foreign partner services.
At present, about 250 people from the Netherlands traveled to IS-controlled areas in Syria. 42 people were slain and 40 have returned. The AIVD has also identified about 70 minors.
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