ISIS has up to 80 militants poised to carry out atrocities in Europe, terror expert warns
Would-be jihadists are being asked "not to come to Syria and Iraq, but to prepare attacks in Europe"
ISIS has as many as 80 militants stationed in Europe primed to carry out terror attacks, an intelligence expert has warned.
Would-be jihadists are heeding calls from the group's leaders "asking them not to come to Syria and Iraq, but to prepare attacks in Europe", according to Dutch counter-terrorism coordinator Dick Schoof.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Mr Schoof also said that military efforts to break-up ISIS's self-declared caliphate is having the effect of scattering fighters across the region - making it more likely they will try to travel to Europe.
Mr Schoof, who was speaking in New York during a conference on "returning foreign fighters", said there had been a slow down in the number of extremists travelling to the Syria and Iraq over the past six months.
But he warned that the fact they are not travelling from Europe "does not mean that the potential threat of those who would have travelled is diminished".
And Mr Schoof said that even though his own country had not been hit by a major attack by Islamic extremists such as those in Belgium and France, ";the chance of attack in the Netherlands is real".
He added: "We have seen 294 terrorist fighters go overseas in Iraq and Syria and there are still 190 over there...And what happened in France and Brussels and Germany could happen to us."
Last week France marked the one-year anniversary of the November 2015 Paris terror attacks, which saw homegrown militants armed with guns and bombs slaughter 130 people across the city.
There are probably between 4,000 and 5,000 European "foreign terrorist fighters" in Iraq and Syria, Mr Schoof said.
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While the number from the Netherlands, a nation of 17 million people, may seem low, he said, "whether there's 190 or 350, I think the number is big enough to worry."
Mr Schoof said the Netherlands' program to deal with the threat balances "repression and prevention" and relies on strong cooperation between local and national authorities.
On the "repression" side, he said, fighters returning from Syria or Iraq are taken into custody and prosecuted, and courts have recently handed down six-year prison sentences in several cases.
The government also takes away passports, freezes assets, and has beefed up security measures and the police force, he said.
On the prevention side, Mr Schoof said, there's a lot of family support, with local authorities deciding the best interventions and providing education and psychological help if needed - but there also could be arrests.
Jozias van Aartsen, the mayor of The Hague, said building trust and having close relations with the Muslim community is very important.
"They are Dutch citizens," he said.
"There are some in the Netherlands who say shut down mosques.
"That's absolutely wrong policy."
But Van Aartsen said there is a need for vigilance: "The apparatus of local government can be very important as a watchdog against radicalization."
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