Dutch justice ministry: 190 people have left to fight jihad

Islamic Extremism

In this June 25, 2014, file photo, a Kurdish peshmerga fighter carries his weapon walks onto his base, where two flags of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) are seen on a building, right, and water tower, left, at the front line with the al-Qaida-inspired militants in Tuz Khormato, 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of the oil rich province of Kirkuk, northern Iraq. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

The Dutch justice ministry says about 190 people have traveled from the Netherlands to fight in overseas “jihadi conflicts.” Of these, 35 have returned home and 30 have been killed.

The ministry published the latest figures Tuesday without a specific breakdown of what countries the 190 had traveled to. Most are believed to have gone to Syria and Iraq. It also maintained its terror threat level at the second-highest: “substantial.”

The latest threat assessment says that, although there are no “concrete signs” of possible attacks, deadly terror incidents in Paris and Copenhagen and a foiled plot in neighboring Belgium “underscore … the threat against Europe and therefore also against the Netherlands.”

The assessment says that not only retuning fighters pose a threat but also Islamic extremists who remain in the West.

Report by The Associated press