‘This is the first time that Belgians are fighting alongside Al-Qaeda’

The mayors of Antwerp, Mechelen and Vilvoorde met with Dutch and Belgian security experts on April 10 to discuss the question of Flemish muslims travelling to Syria to fight loyalist forces.
According to the Belgian press, between 50 and 80 mostly unemployed youths, who are mainly from the areas around Antwerp and Brussels, have joined Islamist militias fighting Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
The newspaper reports that the mayors decided to take coordinated action with a three-point plan involving schools, the police and local mosques.