Explosive attacks fall as task force targets young offenders

Attacks using explosives fell by more than 17% in the first half of this year, the first substantial drop since the wave of explosions peaked in 2024, according to the government’s Offensive against Explosions (OTE) working group.

The number of explosions or attempted explosions decreased from 705 during the first half of 2025 to 581 during the same time, putting the OTE on track to achieve a 10% decrease this year.

But explosions remain a serious safety threat – and it’s mostly young people who use them to commit crimes. Almost half of all arrested suspects were minors, reports NU.nl, with fewer than one in six suspects older than 30. A large proportion of offenders are under the age of 25.

“Every attack is one too many,” said Carola Schouten, mayor of Rotterdam and chairwoman of the OTE. “But it is good to see that the number of attacks is starting to decrease nationwide… This requires continued attention and joint commitment on all fronts.”

Young offenders

Specifically, the task force is focusing on reducing the number of young offenders, finding and prosecuting those who hire them and their intermediaries and limiting the availability of explosives – in this case mostly powerful, illegally trafficked fireworks, often procured from neighbouring countries like Germany or ordered online.

“This is done, among other things, by disrupting the production, transport, storage and trade in such explosives,” said the OTE, which is also setting up a joint Europol task force with Germany and Sweden, and lobbying with France and Sweden for tighter EU rules on powerful fireworks.

But given the young age of offenders, prevention is the name of the game. The OTE has begun a pilot focusing on conflict mediation among young people, while parents, caregivers and those who work with them are being given support to make “young people more resilient to (online) temptations to crime”.