Three men who were planning to travel to Syria were arrested in Rotterdam yesterday. The Public Prosecutor's Office reported that they intended to participate in the internationally violent jihad there.
The men aged 22, 23 and 33 are suspected radicalized Muslims reports the prosecution. During the search of their homes, police found knives, a sword and a crossbow. Farewell letters, packed backpacks with travel gear and a large amount of jihadist documentation were also found.
Police also searched two homes of family members of the suspects in Doesburg and Utrecht. The investigation into the men began last month in response to an official report from the AIVD.
The men previously wanted to go to Syria
The suspects had previously planned to travel to Syria, but their flight to Turkey was postponed. Two of them were booked for a flight from Brussels to Turkey yesterday afternoon.
One of the men, according to the prosecution, married a woman he had not met before last week. He knew her through the Internet and wanted to fight with her for jihad. In a photo for his bride, he posed with a kalashnikov. He wrote to her on the Internet that he hoped they would die together and go to paradise together.
