A radicalised ex-member of the Dutch armed forces has been trying to recruit former colleagues at the Volkel military base to take up arms for jihad, the Telegraaf reports on Friday.

The paper says the airforce reported the incident to the security services at the beginning of this week and they are now investigating.

Eight F-16 fighter jets, which were based at Volkel, are currently involved in anti-Islamic State bombing in Iraq.

Threatening

The defence ministry said the report had been made to the security services in line with procedures. Sources told the paper the efforts to recruit jihadists on the base were ‘extremely threatening’.

The would-be recruiter, now a civilian, is said to have approached people using various methods including email. By the time action was taken, the recruiter had fled, the paper said.

Several former Dutch soldiers are thought to be involved in fighting in Syria and Iraq. The most prominent is Dutch Turkish national Omar Yilmaz who was last week interviewed by American broadcaster CBS.