Information from the Dutch security service AIVD at the end of last year helped foil an al-Qaeda terrorist attack, home affairs minister Ronald Plasterk said in a briefing to parliament.

The briefing, sent to MPs earlier this month, states ‘this important information’ was passed on to foreign security services and led to the ‘arrest of three al-Qaeda terrorists who were sent to Europe to carry out the attack’.

The minister gave no further details and the AIVD refused to comment, RTL reported. ‘We have to protect our sources and cannot go public with our successes,’ a spokesman told the broadcaster.

Syria

The briefing, which focuses on the AIVD’s strategy for 2013, states the security organisation wants to develop better insight into the people who travel to ‘jihadist territories’ such as Syria. This is to ‘ensure Dutch nationals are not used to plan attacks in the Netherlands or abroad’.

‘The AIVD will do its utmost to stop Dutch citizens joining jihadist networks,’ Plasterk said.

Earlier, the counter terrorism body said around 100 Dutch people have travelled to Syria and several are known to have died.