Weapons Found in Home: 14-Year-Old Arrested for Planned Terrorist Attack on Mosque

The 14-year-old targeted the Brussels mosque. MAXPPP – Leyla Vidal

At just 14 years old, the child, "of far-right obedience", was planning to commit a terrorist attack on a Brussels mosque before his arrest. The Belgian Minister of Justice denounces the "brainwashing" of social networks.

A teenager suspected of planning an attack on a mosque was arrested on Thursday 23 January in Brussels, and weapons were seized at his home, the Belgian capital's public prosecutor's office announced. The suspect, aged 14, who is believed to be a sympathiser of the extreme right, “was planning to commit an attack on a mosque on Friday 24 January, a day of prayer and crowds in mosques”, the public prosecutor's office said, without giving a specific location.

In a press release, the public prosecutor's office said it had been informed of this plan on Wednesday, based on “declassified confidential information”. Hence the decision to conduct a search of the suspect's home at dawn on Thursday. “Weapons and computer equipment” were seized.

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The “brainwashing” of social networks

When discussing the arrest before MPs, Justice Minister Paul Van Tigchelt noted that the suspect was “apparently of far-right leanings”. He also highlighted “the nightmare” that young people radicalized online generally represented for the authorities.

“The process of radicalization of these young people is developing much more quickly than in the past”, declared the minister, pointing the finger at the “brainwashing” that some young people addicted to social networks undergo. In its latest activity report published in mid-January, the State Security, the civil intelligence service in Belgium, estimated “at almost a third” the proportion of under-18s among those involved in terrorism cases.

Minors represent “almost a third” of those “listed”

“Between 2022 and 2024, almost a third of the people who plotted attacks were under 18. The process of online radicalisation of these young people is dazzling”, noted the State Security. Currently, around 600 people are listed as extremists who are the subject of special monitoring by Ocam, the Belgian agency for analyzing the terrorist threat.

A large majority belong to the jihadist movement, but some “listed” are also listed for their sympathies for far-right movements. There were around sixty of them in a count by Ocam at the end of 2022, which did not distinguish between adults and minors. On Thursday, after this arrest in Brussels, the public prosecutor's office requested that the suspect be placed in a closed center for minors. He is suspected in particular of “preparing a terrorist attack”.