Police terror raids leave 2 dead belgium

[kershawtim]

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

Prosecutor Eric Van der Sypt said a third person had been arrested in the raid in Verviers, and no police or members of the public were harmed.

Mr Van der Sypt told reporters police had targeted a group returning from Syria who had been about to launch "large-scale" attacks.

Suspects had opened fire on police with assault weapons, 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," he said.

Anti-terror raids were also under way in the Brussels region, Mr Van der Sypt added.

"We still expect a number of arrests," he said.

Belgian journalist Mark Eeckhaut told the BBC the suspects had wanted to attack a police station and cause a large number of casualties.

The terror threat level in Belgium has been raised to three - the second highest, Mr Van der Sypt said.

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


Witness Marylou Fletcher told the BBC: "We were going back from shopping and saw the police cars. We thought there was an accident then we heard something blowing up. There were a lot of gunshots.

"My children cried. They are just terrified."

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.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel is said to have followed the situation closely, but has made no comment.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said events in Belgium "look like yet another indication of the huge risk we face from Islamist extremist terror in Europe".

"We have to remain extremely vigilant, we have to take all the steps we can to beat this evil," he told reporters in Washington where he is to hold talks with President Barack Obama.

Verviers is in the province of Liege, close to the German border, 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.

However, Mr Van der Sypt said no weapons link with last week's attacks in the French capital had been established.

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. A Frenchman of Algerian descent is in custody in Belgium over the attack.
http://m.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30840160

[TonyGosling]

More counterterrorism raids reportedly underway in Belgium after police thwart 'Belgian Charlie Hebdo' attack
Published January 15, 2015
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/01/15/belgium-counterterrorism-raids  /

More 'counterterrorism' operations were reportedly underway in Belgium late Thursday, hours after police killed at least two in raids aimed at jihadists returning from Syria who were planning to launch a "Belgian Charlie Hebdo" attack, authorities said.

Belgian news site L'Avenir, as well as Le Soir and France24, reported that the government prosecutor's office said a dozen operations have been launched against suspects across Belgium, in Verviers, Brussels and Hal-Vilvoorde. Some of those targeted in the raids are known to have returned recently from Syria.

The Belgian news site reported that, based on phone intercepts in the homes and cars of the three individuals involved in a shootout in Verviers, authorities believed the three were in the process of carrying out imminent attacks inside Belgium. A shootout between the three and police has left two of the suspected terrorists dead and another wounded.

The French daily Le Soir is reporting that the investigations were launched against the Verviers suspects at least two weeks ago after they returned from Syria where they were thought to be involved in the fighting there....