Dutch Government Raises Terror Threat Level over Syria Fighting

The Dutch government has raised its terror threat level from "limited" to "substantial," saying Dutch citizens are traveling to Syria to fight in the civil war and could return battle-hardened, traumatized and further radicalized.

The country's National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism said in a statement Wednesday "the chance of an attack in the Netherlands or against Dutch interests abroad has risen."

The warning comes just two months before hundreds of thousands of people are expected to descend on Amsterdam for the abdication of Queen Beatrix and investiture of her son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, as king.

The government cites the threat posed by jihad fighters returning from Syria and signs of increasing radicalization among Dutch youth at home.

Substantial is the second-highest level on the four-step scale, just below "critical."

Last month, France also expressed concerns about its citizens heading to Mali to join radical Islamic fighters there, even as the French army was fighting the Muslim rebels in its former colony.

French police arrested four youths last month suspected of trying to join radical Islamic fighters in West Africa, and expelled radical imams and others considered risks to public order.

Germany's Interior Ministry said Wednesday that in 2012, some 220 people from across Europe went to Syria to fight. Of those, fewer than 10 were from Germany. The majority of German "jihadi travelers" picked Egypt as their first destination in 2012, and then traveled on either to Mali, Syria or Yemen, according to German intelligence information.

Police in the port city of Rotterdam arrested three men in November on suspicion of preparing to travel to Syria to fight alongside rebels.