Brussels , Belgium ( CNN ) '' It 's a nightmare , '' says Zaki Chairi . Chairi , a 27-year old Belgian comedian who performs with a humorous theatrical group that calls itself the `` Muslim Raiders , '' was speaking several days after a deadly gun battle erupted last week between suspected jihadists and police in the eastern Belgian town of Verviers . News of the suspected Belgian terror cell immediately sent ripples of fear through this small European country 's Muslim community . `` I was freaking out . Really scared , '' said Chairi , who fears young Belgian-born Muslims could become victims of a backlash after the raid . `` My mom said no one can go out tonight because of what happened , '' said Camelia Lakhdar . The 19-year old waitress said her frightened mother made her skip work the night of the anti-terror raid . Both Chairi and Lakhdar were speaking in the lounge of a Muslim youth center , Espace Poincare . Espace Poincare opened little more than a year ago , with the goal of promoting a peaceful and productive blend of European and Islamic values . But the center 's director said the recent reports of a suspected homegrown Belgian terror cell -- emerging so soon after French jihadis massacred cartoonists in the Paris office of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo had threatened this vision of moderation and integration . `` We condemn what 's happened . This is not our vision , our understanding of our religion , '' said director Hajib El Hajjaji . In French-accented English , he explained how Belgium 's Muslim community was finding itself increasingly trapped between two ideological extremes . `` We face [ Islamist ] radicalization . But we also face the increase of Islamophobia in Belgium , '' El Hajjaji said . `` We know that stigmatization , Islamophobia , discrimination help this radicalization of young Muslim people here in Belgium . '' The January 15 raid in Verviers resulted in the shooting deaths of two Belgian citizens . Police said they were found in possession of assault rifles , handguns , explosives and police uniforms . The suspects have been accused of being part of a plot to target Belgian police , inspired by the ultra-violent ideology of ISIS . The gun-battle triggered an international manhunt . Since January 15 , Belgian authorities have arrested and charged at least seven Belgians with participation in a terrorist organization . The federal prosecutor 's office announced three of the suspects were intercepted at the airport in Brussels while trying to fly to Greece , with plans to then travel on to Syria . A senior Belgian counter-terrorist official tells CNN the suspected leader of the Verviers cell is a young Belgian of Moroccan descent named Abdelhamid Abaaoud . Abaaoud -- who is still at large- appeared in an ISIS propaganda video laughing and joking to the camera while driving a pick-up truck that was dragging at least half a dozen corpses through a field . He also brought his teenage brother to Syria , who has since appeared in photos posing alongside ISIS fighters . Abaaoud originally hails from a district of Brussels called Molenbeek . He is not the only Molenbeek native to embrace the ISIS jihad . `` There are several people who left here to fight in Syria . And some who came back . That 's the danger , '' said Molenbeek Mayor Francoise Schepmans . She spoke to CNN in the neighborhood 's central square , which is ringed with halal butcher shops and grocery stores advertising their goods in French and Arabic . A polyglot procession of residents -- many of them women wearing Islamic headscarves- strolled . In the side streets , one could over hear conversations in French , Arabic and Turkish . Molenbeek has a large , predominantly Muslim population of first , second and third generation immigrants from North Africa . The mayor said the neighborhood also suffered from soaring youth unemployment estimated at more than 40 % . Molenbeek raids . As part of their effort to stop the suspected ISIS-linked cell in Verviers , Belgian police have carried out multiple raids in Molenbeek over the course of the last week . The defense attorney for a Molenbeek native arrested by police last week said his client was innocent of terrorism charges . Didier De Quevy argued that his client , an unemployed former 25-year old security guard named Marouane el Bali , did not fit the terrorist profile because he had no previous criminal record . `` He lives in Molenbeek , which is one of the neighborhoods most infested by terrorism , and thus it 's a miracle not to have problems with the authorities when you live there , '' De Quevy said . While unemployment is rampant , online propaganda for ISIS ' bloody interpretation of jihad is often only a button click away . Chairi , the comedian who also hosts a radio show that touches upon Belgian Muslim affairs , laments that his radicalized peers `` do n't learn their Islam in mosques or in institutions . They learn it on the Internet . '' He recalled meeting a young Muslim convert . Just a few months after embracing Islam in Belgium , Chairi said he read in a newspaper that the young man was killed fighting on the battlefields of Syria . `` It goes so fast ... even the religious leaders , they do n't understand it , '' Chairi said . `` People radicalize themselves , '' said El Hajjaji , director of Point Espace . El Hajjaji says he has taken to social media , to denounce online propaganda urging volunteers to join ISIS . But he confesses the jihadi message can be tempting to vulnerable youths . `` The speech to get you to go to Syria is very simple : you have your enemy , you want to have the power to build your future , and you do n't need to find a solution to the complexity of your life that we have here in Belgium , '' El Hajjaji said . It is this toxic mix of unemployment , marginalization and the clarion call of jihad , that have helped make Brussels , the capital of Europe , a recruiting ground for terrorism . Belgium terror cell has links to ISIS . Journalist Carmen Paun contributed to this report .
On July 15 , a gun ##fight during a raid by police in Verviers left two Belgian citizens dead . The suspects have been accused of involvement in an ISIS - linked plot to target police officers . The Muslim community fears a shift and rise in violence that could trigger radicalization .