ZOETERMEER, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch national intelligence agency said Tuesday that threats targeting the Netherlands are increasingly connected to worldwide turmoil, including the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
Although the number of terror attacks across Europe has been down in recent years, the General Intelligence and Security Service in its annual report said the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and the destruction of a Quran outside parliament last year are “trigger events” for extremists.
“The terrorist threat is serious at this moment,” the agency’s director-general, Erik Akerboom, told The Associated Press.
Akerboom said he is particularly concerned about big events, noting that the agency is working closely with French authorities to prevent incidents during the Paris Olympics this summer.
In December, the Dutch counterterrorism agency increased the country’s threat alert to its second-highest level because of concerns about the Islamic State group’s Khorasan affiliates, Akerboom said. IS-K, a Central Asian affiliate, was responsible for the attack at a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed at least 133 people in March.
Heavy rains set off flash floods, killing 33 people in Afghanistan,
China releases list of first batch of pilot cities seeking to peak carbon dioxide emissions
Social media star revives interest in ancient Chinese writing
Spain reopens a probe into a Pegasus spyware case after a French request to work together
Fresh strawberries go global from northeast Chinese city
Prefabricated houses set up at temporary relocation sites in quake
Social media star revives interest in ancient Chinese writing
Original Karma singer Brit Smith says JoJo Siwa 'has done nothing wrong' after re
Earthquake death toll in Qinghai rises to 18
Former MIT researcher who killed Yale graduate student sentenced to 35 years in prison
Guideline unveiled to make public use of autonomous driving vehicles safer