Europe on high alert over terrorist threat
Europe is on high alert following anti-terror raids and arrests of
suspected Islamist militants.
More than 20 people have been arrested in Belgium, France and Germany
and Belgian has joined France in deploying troops alongside police.
Security has been tightened in several countries after last week's
attacks in Paris left 17 people dead. There are increased concerns about
the return of young Europeans who have gone to fight with Middle East
militants.
In Belgium, five people were charged on Friday with “participating in
the activities of a terrorist group” following a series of raids that
began on Thursday evening and left two suspects dead.
Guns, munitions and explosives, as well as police uniforms and a
large amount of money, were all seized by police overnight.
Eric Van Der Sypt, an official at the prosecutors’ office, said: “The
investigation... has shown that these people had the intention to kill
several policemen in the street and at police commissariats [police
stations].”
Thirteen people were arrested in total but only five would be
prosecuted, he said. Belgium would also seek the extradition of two
suspects held in France.
On Friday, the Belgian government also announced new measures to deal
with terrorist suspects.
They include making travelling abroad for terrorist activities a
crime and expanding the cases where Belgian citizenship can be revoked
for dual nationals who are thought to pose a terror risk.No link has
been established between the terrorist plot in Belgium and last week's
attacks in Paris. But French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Friday
that, despite this, both countries face the same threats.
“The link that exists is the will to attack our values,” he
said.Twelve suspects are being held by police in the Paris region over
last week's attacks in the French capital that killed 17 people. Police
carried out raids in five towns, iTele reported. Those arrested are now
being questioned about “possible logistical support”, such as weapons or
vehicles, they could have given the three gunmen, according to police.
France remains on its highest terrorism alert level and authorities have
said that some 120,000 police and soldiers have been mobilised across
France.
In a separate incident on Friday, authorities shut down and evacuated
the Gare de l'Est train station after a bomb scare.
The incidents in France and Belgium have had a wider impact on their
European neighbours.
Spain has launched an investigation into the visit of one of the
Paris gunmen, Amedy Coulibaly, to Madrid just days before the attacks in
Paris. Police in Germany have also arrested two men following raids on
11 properties on Friday, involving some 250 officers.
One of the men was suspected of leading an extremist group of Turkish
and Russian nationals. Police said that the group was preparing a
serious act of violence in Syria but that there was “no indication” that
the group had been planning attacks inside Germany.In the UK, police
have been warned that a terror attack against them is highly likely.The
head of Europol, Rob Wainwright, told the BBC that the need for
tightened security across Europe highlighted the complex nature of the
terrorist threat in the region.
“We're dealing with multiple thousands of potential terrorists,” he
told the BBC World Service.He said it was hard for police to identify
plans because suspects were “working in a self-radicalised way very
often, not necessarily under any command and control structure”.
- BBC News
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