The national antiterrorism coordinator said 12 suspected Islamist militants were arrested in the Hague yesterday, and added that authorities are conducting 30 investigations involving some 60 people suspected of recruiting fighters for extremist groups in the Middle East. The mayor of the Hague said municipalities need government help in monitoring returning jihadists; about 30 of 160 jihadists known to have traveled to Syria from the Netherlands are thought to have returned. Suspected terrorist recruiter Abou Moussa a.k.a. Azzedine C., who is currently in jail, began a hunger and thirst strike. The Islamic State claimed that Dutch jihadist Abu Abdullah al-Hollandi carried out a suicide bombing in Baghdad on Nov. 12.
