Lieutenant Colonel Sandra Bertocchi, from the Department of human resources at the Ministry of Defense, said they had launched a new campaign via social media in a bid to meet staffing needs.

"Do I actually have the opportunity to work at Defense as a Muslim?" in a new recruitment campaign on social media, the Defense organization is encouraging Muslims to become military.

"Regarding religious diversity, Muslims are simply a strongly represented group within our population. We are neutral, we also want to be a reflection of Belgian society. That does not always penetrate, there is still a stereotypical image of Defense," she said.

In Belgium, which has a population of about 12 million, the proportion of Muslims is estimated at 7.6 percent. However, according to the surname estimate, only 0.5 percent of Army members are Muslims.

ILKHA