Belgium: continuing struggle against Islamic State

[Anthea]

BBC News

Belgian anti-terror raid in Verviers 'leaves two dead'

Two people have been killed in an anti-terror operation in the Belgian town of Verviers, media reports citing officials say.

A third person was wounded, according to Belgian TV.

A source in the mayor's office told AFP news agency that "an operation is under way". Another official said the raid was "jihadist-related".

Witnesses reported hearing heavy gunfire for several minutes and at least three explosions.

Reports on social media said there was a heavy police presence in the town centre.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe- ... ws_central

[Anthea]

BBC News

Two people have been killed in an anti-terror operation in eastern Belgium, local officials say.

A third person was wounded in the raid in the town of Verviers, according to Belgian TV. Several arrests were made.

A source in the mayor's office told AFP news agency that "an operation is under way". Another official said the raid was "jihadist-related".

Unconfirmed reports said raids were also taking place in Brussels and elsewhere in Belgium.

In Verviers, witnesses reported hearing heavy gunfire for several minutes and at least three explosions.

The area around the train station has been cordoned off and reports on social media say there is a heavy police presence in the town centre.

Media reports suggested those targeted were suspected jihadists who had returned from Syria.

Verviers is in the province of Liege and has a population of about 56,000.

The incident comes a week after attacks in neighbouring France that killed 17 people.

Belgian media has reported that some of the weapons used in the attacks in Paris were bought near the Midi train station in Brussels.

The attacks - on satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, a kosher market and police - have heightened security fears in several European countries.

In May last year, four people were killed inside the Jewish museum in Brussels by a Frenchman of Algerian descent.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-30840160

[Anthea]

BBC News

Belgium on high alert after deadly anti-terror raid

Belgium is on high alert after a major anti-terror raid in which two suspected Islamist militants were killed.

The suspects were shot dead in the eastern town of Verviers after they opened fire on police with automatic weapons on Thursday evening.

Officials say they had returned from Syria and planned imminent attacks on police targets. Another suspect was wounded before being arrested.

Searches were also carried out overnight in the Brussels area.

'Bomb-making equipment'

Speaking after Thursday's raid in Verviers, near the German border, Prosecutor Eric Van Der Sypt said the terror threat level had been raised to three - the second highest.

Referring to the raid itself, he said: "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."

After the operation, four Kalashnikovs, bomb-making equipment and police clothing were found, according to local media. Security forces remain in the Verviers area.

Link to Full Article & Video:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-30843370

[Anthea]

It would appear those terrorists were planning to dress up as policemen in order to carry out some form of attack

This is very worrying as police move freely among the population and I doubt that anyone would actually stop and question someone in police uniform

Would you approach an armed policeman and say:

"Excuse me but are you able to prove that you really are a policeman?"

Will someone PLEASE try this and let us know what happened

[Piling]

The Gare de l"Est was closed from 8.am until 10.am because of a 'suspicious package'

= probably a tourist asshole who forgot his bag

[Anthea]

The Gare de l"Est was closed from 8.am until 10.am because of a 'suspicious package'

= probably a tourist asshole who forgot his bag

Let us hope that was all it was

As Paris is a city of tourists you will probably have many more such instances

[Anthea]

The Independent

Belgian 'Isis fighter' taunts authorities saying he slipped out of country 'like knife through butter'

A Belgian man claiming to fight for Isis in Iraq has ridiculed the country’s security forces for letting him slip out the country “like a knife cutting through soft butter”.

The jibes on Twitter emerged as two suspected jihadists were shot dead in the town of Verviers as special forces foiled an “imminent” attack on police and another 30 people were arrested on suspicion of terror across Europe.

The man, calling himself Abu Mariya Belgiki – not his real name – taunted authorities last week while documenting his new life supposedly living under the “Islamic State”.

“Don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but Belgian intelligence agency is the laziest and the dumbest in the world probably...they kept me under surveillance since I was 14. And I passed through Brussels airport like a knife cutting through soft butter,” he wrote on 9 January from the account, which has since been suspended.

Full Article:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 83534.html

[Anthea]

Reuters

Belgium holds four after raids on Syrian recruiting cell

Belgian police detained four people after a series of raids across the country on Friday to dismantle a group suspected of recruiting jihadist fighters for Syria, federal prosecutors said.

The raids were not linked to an operation earlier this month that foiled a plan to attack Belgian police nor to recent deadly militant attacks in Paris, prosecutors added.

"This file concerns people who want to go to Syria and fight there. The investigation concentrates on the organization which recruits those persons and sends them to Syria," federal prosecutors said in a statement.

Police found no weapons or explosives during the 22 raids, most of them in the east of Belgium, near to the Dutch border.

The four detained suspects will be brought before a judge on Friday to determine whether they should still be held.

Some 350 Belgians have left for Syria in recent years, Belgian authorities estimate, to fight alongside Islamist extremists such as Islamic State.

Authorities fear that some of those Syria fighters could plan attacks in their home country on their return from the conflict zone.

Belgium has been on high alert, with soldiers guarding key sites such as embassies, Jewish schools and the European Commission headquarters, after two Islamist gunmen were killed by police in raids two weeks ago.

Prosecutors believe that operation foiled a plot to murder police officers across the country.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/ ... S220150130