PST reports radicalised boys as young as 12

Norway’s Police Security Service, PST, has identified boys as young as 12 who have become radicalised into extreme Islamism, Dagbladet reports. Most of those identified are aged between 15 and 17, PST counterterrorism chief Ane Mannsåker Roald said.

“We have also uncovered children as young as 12 or 13 who are extreme Islamists,” Roald told Dagbladet during Arendalsuka in Arendal.

Justice Minister Astri Aas-Hansen said the development was not about religion, but about young people being radicalised into a violent ideology.

“This has nothing to do with religion. These are young boys who have been radicalised into a violent ideology that we do not want in Norway,” Aas-Hansen said.

Roald said activity among extreme Islamists had increased among young boys, with groups forming online. Most of those identified live around the Oslo Fjord, although PST has also found examples further south in Norway.

Some were born in Norway, while others have parents or grandparents from areas affected by war and conflict. PST has also identified ethnic Norwegians who converted to Islam among the young extreme Islamists.

Despite the increase in young people being radicalised, PST has not changed Norway’s terror threat level. The service assesses the threat of terrorism in Norway as unchanged and moderate.

“What we have seen over time is that there are more young boys and that the environment is changing. They are radicalised online and find one another,” Roald said. PST would not give an estimate of how many young boys in Norway it considers extreme Islamists.

Roald said many of those drawn into the environments experienced exclusion, struggled at school, had committed crimes or had close links to criminality. Others had unstable lives or mental health conditions.

Aas-Hansen and Roald said responsibility for preventing radicalisation and helping young people leave extreme Islamist environments must be shared by child welfare services, schools, families and friends.

“It is important that those closest to the children pay attention if they discover that extreme propaganda is being consumed,” Roald said.