Dutch intelligence agency warns of child jihadists

A boy carries a AK47 rifle at the Chebayesh marsh in Nassiriya, 300 km (185 miles) southeast of Baghdad, February 15, 2013. The Marsh Arabs who had farmed this area for thousands of years, were badly affected by a campaign mounted by the government of Saddam Hussein in the 1990s to destroy their lifestyle. The marshes were drained of water, and hundreds of thousands of Marsh Arabs were forced to flee to cities, where they live in poverty, the locals in this area said. Picture taken February 15. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: SOCIETY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3DV42 (Reuters)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The Netherlands' main intelligence service says it is treating a small group of Dutch children in conflict zones in Iraq and Syria as "Jihadist travelers" since they may have received military training.

In a report published Wednesday, the General Intelligence and Security Service says at least 80 Dutch children are in those areas, either having been born there or taken there by one or both parents. It says fewer than 20 percent of the children are age 9 or older.

The report says that because children in territory controlled by the so-called Islamic State group "sometimes receive weapons and combat training from as young as nine years old," intelligence officials consider them jihadi travelers.

Dutch authorities routinely detain people caught returning from Syria if they are suspected of extremist links.