Suspected jihadists had plot to kill police in Belgium, says prosecutor

The two suspected jihadists killed by Belgian police in a shoot-out in the eastern town of Verviers on Thursday had planned to kill members of the Belgian police force “on the street and in their offices”, the Belgian federal prosecutor said yesterday.

Belgian police arrested 13 people in 12 separate raids overnight following the shooting in Verviers as part of a co-ordinated counter-terrorism operation, while two further suspects were arrested in France at the behest of Belgium authorities.

All 15 of those detained were part of the same terrorist network, Belgian officials said, though two separate arrests in Zaventem airport yesterday were unconnected.

According to French media reports, the two suspects arrested by French police in connection with the Belgian operation had been making their way to the Italian border before being intercepted in France.

Dismantle

“There was a concrete plan to take the lives of policemen,” the Belgian federal prosecutor Eric van der Sypt said yesterday in Brussels, adding that the investigation had been under way for some weeks.

“The operation was meant to dismantle a terrorist cell . . . but also the logistics network behind it,” he said. When asked if there was any link between the terrorist network uncovered in Belgium and events in Paris last week, he said there was no apparent link at this stage.

He declined to answer questions about local media reports that claim the suspects had been planning to behead police force members.

Meanwhile, Belgium’s prime minister unveiled a number of measures to combat terrorism following an emergency cabinet meeting yesterday.

"We are not aware of any specific or concrete threats, however, in the situation we can consider it is useful to raise the level of prudence and vigilance," Prime Minister Charles Michel said.

A total of €300 million in non-earmarked spending for this year’s budget would be made available for additional security, he said, and the army would be deployed if necessary.

In addition the government proposed measures that would permit authorities to temporarily withhold passports and other identity documents from people with a "high risk profile" to prevent them travelling to Syria and Iraq.

Security was tight in the Belgian capital yesterday, particularly at police stations, while a number of Jewish schools in Brussels and Antwerp remained closed.

Increased security

The

European Commission

increased its level of security, though a spokeswoman said there had been no specific threat against its headquarters, which houses tens of thousands of workers in the Schumann quarter of Brussels.

EU foreign ministers, including Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan travel to Brussels on Monday for a scheduled meeting which is expected to be dominated by discussion on a European Union response to the terror threat.

It is estimated that more than 3,000 EU citizens have travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight for radical Islamist groups such as Islamic State, with many returning to their home countries in recent months.

Belgium has one of the highest number of “foreign fighters” within the EU according to estimates.