‘Second Paris’ averted
Two suspected jihadis killed in Belgium as commandos swoop before terror strike
TWO suspected jihadists were killed by Belgian police last night in a major anti-terror operation against militants who had come back from Syria.
Witnesses told of explosions following an intense gun battle between terror suspects and police supported by commandos wearing black balaclavas.
Residents are said to have rushed for cover during ten minutes of machine-gun fire.
It remains unclear whether the operation was directly linked to last week’s Paris murders – but the Charlie Hebdo attackers’ weapons are feared to have come from Belgian gangs.
‘A second Paris has been avoided,’ an official from Belgium’s ministry of justice spokesman was quoted as saying yesterday.
Federal prosecutor Eric Van Der Sypt confirmed that an active terror cell had been about to launch ‘attacks on a grand scale’.
He added: ‘The suspects immediately and for several minutes opened fire with military weaponry and handguns on the special units of the federal police before they were neutralised.’
The shooting took place near a railway station in the town of Verviers, near Belgium’s eastern border with Germany. A resident told Belgian TV: ‘I heard two explosions and saw two young men run away. They were between 25 and 30 years, [and] of Arab origin.
Last night police backed by the Belgian military were said to have carried out raids on a dozen homes across the country, including one in a flat above a bakery, which may have triggered the shooting. Machine guns are said to have been among the weapons seized.
A third man, said to be seriously wounded, was last night in police custody, along with six other suspects. Officials last night said Belgium had raised the threat of terror attacks to its highest level.
The suspected jihadists are said to have been linked directly to Islamic State, which has recruited hundreds of Belgian and French nationals. Police moved in after intercepting conversations indicating that they were about to strike in Belgium.
The operation comes amid fears
‘I heard two explosions’
that British citizens who have fought for IS in Iraq or Syria could return home to carry out terror attacks on the UK’s streets.
David Cameron said yesterday: ‘It’s still early days in terms of getting infomation, but it looks like yet another indication of the huge risk that we face from Islamist extremist terror in Europe after the attacks in Paris.’
Speaking in Washington, where he is holding talks with the President, Mr Cameron added: ‘We have to remain extremely vigilant, we have to take all the steps we can to beat this evil ... I’ll be discussing this issue with Barack Obama.’
The raids took place hours after it emerged Belgian police had arrested a man for arms dealing – and were investigating whether he supplied weapons or ammunition to Amedy Coulibaly, who killed four in a kosher deli in Paris.
The guns used by Coulibaly have been traced to Brussels and Charleroi, while the Kalashnikovs and rocket launchers used by the Kouachi brothers – who killed 12 in an attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine – are similarly said to have been bought by Coulibaly in Brussels for less than £4,000.
Based on its population, Belgium is the European country with the highest proportion of citizens who have taken part in fighting for Syrian rebels over the past four years, according to data compiled by security experts.