On Saturday, March 2, a naturalized Swiss citizen with Tunisian roots seriously injured a Jew in Zurich with a knife. Martial artists from French-speaking Switzerland who happened to be there stopped the 15-year-old just in time.
The IS fanatic from Zurich is not the only young person currently in custody for jihadism. At the beginning of March, the cantonal police of Geneva and Vaud arrested three young people between the ages of 15 and 17 in a coordinated operation, as announced last Friday. Criminal proceedings against the teenagers are underway. The 15-year-old teenager arrested in the canton of Vaud is a Russian citizen. The police did not provide any further information.
Research by the French-speaking Swiss radio and television channel RTS now shows that the three ended up in the criminal investigation network as part of an internationally coordinated operation. The federal police Fedpol confirmed this information at the request of CH Media. A foreign authority informed Fedpol that the three minors were active on a social media platform with radical or extremist content.
Tip could come from Belgium or France
It is quite possible that the tip came from Belgium or France. The arrests of the young people in French-speaking Switzerland are related to a larger operation in which the Belgian and French police were also involved. They arrested seven minors and one adult suspected jihadist between March 3 and March 10. The presumption of innocence applies to everyone. How they were connected is currently being clarified. Apparently they exchange radicalized content.
And it gets even better. According to reports in the Belgian media, three teenagers arrested in Belgium planned an attack on a concert hall in Brussels. Although police did not find any weapons on the teens, one of them explored the area. Thanks to a tip from Fedpol, Belgian authorities were able to arrest one of the suspects. So far there are no signs that the young people arrested in French-speaking Switzerland were involved in the murder plans.
Frédéric Esposito, a lecturer specializing in terrorism at the University of Geneva, told RTS that jihadists are getting younger. If there is an increased threat of terrorism in Europe, this also applies to Switzerland. The federal intelligence service also continues to assess the jihadist terrorist threat as increased.
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
