Brussels: Belgian police have arrested two people suspected of plotting attacks in Brussels during New Year festivities, just weeks after the jihadist bombings and shootings in Paris which were allegedly planned in Belgium.
The federal prosecutor’s office in Brussels, the home of the European Union and NATO, today said that police seized military-style training uniforms, computer hardware and Islamic State propaganda material in raids around the capital Brussels and in the Liege region.
But investigators said the police action on Sunday and Monday was not linked to the wave of deadly attacks in Paris in November which were claimed by the Islamic State group and which France says were prepared in Belgium.
One of the two was arrested on suspicion of planning attacks as well as “playing a lead role in the activities of a terrorist group and recruiting for terrorist acts,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement. The second faced charges of planning and “participating in the activities of a terrorist group,” it said.
“The investigation cast a light on serious threats of attacks believed to be aimed at several emblematic sites in Brussels and carried out during the end-of-year celebrations.” In response, Belgium’s OCAM national crisis centre late Monday raised its alert level for police and soldiers in Brussels, “which could be symbolic targets,” a spokesman told AFP.
Belgian media say police feared the plot may have targeted the central police station by the Grand Place, the opulent central square of Brussels and a major tourist draw.
In the last year, the Belgian authorities have deployed troops in addition to police reinforcements outside many locations in Brussels, including European Union buildings and foreign diplomatic missions, amid growing fears of jihadist attacks.
The two new suspects were arrested during the raids in the Brussels, in the Flemish Brabant area to the north of the capital and near Liege in the eastern part of Belgium’s southern French-speaking region of Wallonia.
The raids, which were ordered by an investigating magistrate in Brussels who specialises in terrorism cases, turned up neither weapons nor explosives. A total of six people were detained, including the two suspected of plotting attacks, but the four others were later released, the prosecutor’s office said. It said investigators were examining seized computer hardware, uniforms and Islamic State propaganda material but declined to release any details about the suspects.
Prime Minister Charles Michel was in permanent contact with security officials about the case but had no immediate plans to make a statement, his office told AFP.
The Belgian authorities are still looking for suspects linked to the November 13 attacks on a Paris concert hall, restaurants, bars and the national stadium which left 130 people dead and hundreds more wounded.
PTI