Anti-terrorist operation: Arrests across Belgium, security forces on high alert ahead of Olympics

From the Brussels Times

Seven people suspected of being involved in the activities of a terrorist group have been arrested in several house searches across Belgium. First reports suggested the suspects were involved in preparing a terrorist attack.

The Antwerp Federal Judicial Police carried out 14 searches in nine different towns across Brussels, Wallonia and Flanders, at the request of an investigating judge specialising in terrorism as part of a file for the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The operation aimed to arrest several people suspected of participating in the activities of a terrorist group, financing terrorism and preparing a terrorist attack, local media reported.

The house searches were carried out in the city of Antwerp, Seraing, Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, Menin, Bourg-Léopold, Liège, Kortrijk, Ghent and Zonhoven. A total of seven people have been arrested and taken in for questioning. The suspects will appear before an examining magistrate, who will decide whether to refer them for trial or place them under an arrest warrant.

RTBF reported that the timing of the police intervention is at least partly linked to the Paris Olympic Games starting this week, for which the security services do not want to take any risks. However, the target of the attack that was being prepared has not yet been clarified, so there is nothing to indicate that the suspects planned to target the Olympics.

The French-speaking public broadcaster also noted that the arrests related to a potential Islamist threat,

Spokesperson Arnaud d’Oultremont told The Associated Press that investigators had “not yet identified the suspects’ concrete objectives.”

While the targets of the suspected plot were not immediately clear, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin thanked “our Belgian friends who, today, led a judicial operation to protect us.” He said French authorities were waiting for more details about the raids and said no arrests were made in France as part of the Belgian operation.