More and more young people are being radicalized, the head of the Swiss Intelligence Service has warned
The level of threat of Islamist terrorism in Switzerland is on the rise and minors are increasingly joining the ranks of Islamists, the head of the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service, Christian Dussey, has warned.
In an interview reported in local media, Dussey admitted that there are significantly more radicalized young people in the country due to what he described as a propaganda campaign by jihadist group Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS).
“We have noticed that the problem has become more acute in recent months,” said Dussey. “In Switzerland, we have an above-average number of cases of radicalized young people compared to other European countries,” according to daily newspaper Tages-Anzeiger’s quote of the Intelligence Service chief on Thursday.
He noted that in the first six months of this year, about 30 people were arrested in Europe on suspicion of planning terrorist attacks, more than the total for the whole of 2023. Several terrorism-related arrests have been made in the past few weeks alone, Dussey added.
The most likely potential attack in Switzerland would be “that of an act of violence perpetrated by an isolated individual inspired by jihadism,” the spy chief said, citing as an example the stabbing of an Orthodox Jew by a 15-year-old suspect in Zurich in March. The victim sustained serious injuries. Prior to that attack the teenager had appeared in a video, expressing solidarity with Islamic State.
Earlier this month, three concerts by US pop mega-star Taylor Swift were canceled in neighboring Austria after police arrested two suspects for allegedly planning terrorist attacks at the shows. Austrian security officials said a 19-year-old, who had previously pledged allegiance to IS, was planning to kill “a large crowd of people” using explosives and knives.
Also in August, two religious figures were detained in Russia for alleged involvement in recruiting fighters for IS. The country’s interior ministry also reported an alarming surge in crimes linked with terrorism and extremism in the first half of this year.
