Prosecutor wants DNA of Dutch jihadists killed abroad

The Public Prosecutor wants DNA material of killed Dutch jihadists to be brought to the Netherlands. The Public Prosecutor wants to determine with certainty which Dutch foreign fighters have been killed in Iraq and Syria in connection with the ongoing investigations into jihadists. With the DNA, the Prosecutor also wants to help bring closure to jihadists' families by removing uncertainty. Reports of fallen jihadists are currently often coming from fellow fighters from the war zone and are not always reliable. The Prosecutor suspects that jihadists may fake their own death to make returning to their own country easier. To succeed in retrieving the DNA material, the Public Prosecutor will now cooperate closely with the authorities in Iraq. Collecting material in Syria will be difficult, as the Public Prosecutor can not work with the Syrian authorities as long as President Assad is in power. "It is not yet known how we can extract DNA material from Syria. At present we are exploring the possibilities", a spokesperson said to NOS.