The 15-year-old girl from Hilversum picked up in Germany last month on her way to Syria was one of a group of girls planning to travel to the Middle Eastern country, the Volkskrant says on Thursday.

Sources told the paper four or five under-age girls were planning to make the trip and join rebel forces there.

Moezdalifa El Adoui was reported missing on June 21 after leaving a message behind saying she was going to Syria. A day later she was picked up at Dusseldorf airport. The girl is still being questioned by police about her travel plans.

Witness

‘She is not in a cell and she is not a suspect. She is a witness and has been given a lawyer via the child protection council,’ police spokesman Thomas Aling said.

The girl’s parents and siblings had put out a message on social media in their efforts to find her saying she may be with other ‘sisters’.

Hilversum foundation World Wide Relief has started an awareness campaign for parents. ‘The brainwashing of girls is becoming more common,’ founder Abou Dhar told local paper De Gooi en Eemlander. ‘If necessary, take away their smartphones and never just give them their passport.’

Campaign

In January, a man aged 20 and a 17-year-old girl from The Hague were arrested on suspicion of helping a 15-year-old girl travel to Syria. Police managed to stop the girl before she got on a plane for the civil war-torn country after friends warned them about the plan.

In May 2013, a tip-off from the Dutch security service AIVD led police to stop a 16-year-old girl leaving the country to fight in Syria.

At least 10 people are under investigation in a major criminal probe into recruiting young Muslims in The Hague to fight abroad, Nos television said last month.