4 teens are suspected of terror offenses in the Rotterdam synagogue explosion, Dutch prosecutors say
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Audio By Carbonatix
1:36 PM on Monday, March 16
By MIKE CORDER
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Four teens arrested on suspicion of setting off an explosive outside a Dutch synagogue are suspected of terror offenses, prosecutors said Monday, after they appeared before an investigating magistrate.
The suspects, whose names weren't released in line with Dutch privacy rules, are suspected of “causing an explosion, arson and attempted arson, all with a terrorist intent,” the Rotterdam Public Prosecutor's office said in a statement.
No one was injured when an explosion caused a small blaze around 3:40 a.m. (0240 GMT) Friday at the synagogue in the port city of Rotterdam. No details about the nature of the explosive have been released.
Prosecutors say the attack was “aimed at instilling serious fear in a population group, in this case the Jewish community.”
The suspects were detained soon after the blast in a vehicle that was spotted close to another synagogue in Rotterdam. The judge on Monday ordered them held for a further two weeks while investigations continue. Two of the suspects are 19, one is 18 and another 17.
Synagogues around the world have been on edge and ramping up security since joint U.S.- Israeli strikes on Iran starting on Feb. 28 led to war in the Middle East.
A Jewish organization in the Netherlands said in a message on X that an Islamist group posted a video online of the Rotterdam explosion, and said that the same group had earlier claimed responsibility for a synagogue attack in Liege, a city in Belgium, early Monday. The authenticity of the video couldn't immediately be verified.
The same group also posted video of an attack early Saturday, in which two people set off an explosion outside a Jewish school in Amsterdam.
Police in the Dutch capital haven't arrested any suspects yet in the school attack.
Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said that the city's Jewish residents feel “fear and anger” and are increasingly being targeted by antisemitism.
“That is unacceptable. A school must be a place where children can learn safely. Amsterdam must be a place where Jews can live safely,” she said.
