Belgian police detain 12 terror suspects

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel says the situation is under control after 12 people were arrested in anti-terror raids.

 Police officer and soldiers on security duty inside Galerie de la Reine. (EPA)

Police officer and soldiers on security duty inside Galerie de la Reine. (EPA) Source: EPA

Belgian police arrested 12 suspects in a major anti-terror operation overnight amid security alerts in Belgium and France around the Euro 2016 soccer tournament.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel chaired a meeting of the government's security council on Saturday after the raids and said soccer-related events would go on as planned with extra security measures.

"We want to continue living normally," Michel said. "The situation is under control."

"We are extremely vigilant, we are monitoring the situation hour by hour and we will continue with determination the fight against extremism, radicalisation and terrorism," he said.

Earlier the Belgian federal prosecutor's office said 40 people had been taken in for questioning and 12 among them were arrested "in connection with a criminal investigation concerning terrorism."

"The investigating judge will decide on their possible detention later today. The investigatory results necessitated an immediate intervention. The investigation continues," it said in a statement.

No weapons or explosives had been found during the overnight searches, which also involved 152 garage lockups.

Flemish public broadcaster VTM said the people arrested overnight were suspected of planning an attack in Brussels this weekend during one of Belgium's soccer matches.

Areas where fans watch matches in Brussels were potential targets, as well as other crowded areas such as shopping centres and train stations, Belgian media reported.

The Belgian crisis centre in charge of coordinating security responses decided not to raise the security level to the maximum that would indicate an imminent threat of attack, Michel said.

Public broadcaster RTBF said Belgium's crisis centre on Friday had placed several government ministers, including Michel, under heightened protection.

With the Euro 2016 soccer tournament underway in neighbouring France, Europe is on high security alert. Islamist suicide bombers killed 32 people in Brussels in March following attacks in Paris last November in which 130 people died.

Investigators have found links between the Brussels and Paris attackers, some of whom were based in Belgium.

On Monday a French police couple were stabbed to death outside their home in Paris in an attack claimed by Islamic State.

In a video posted on social networks, the attacker, Larossi Abballa, linked it to the soccer tournament, saying: "The Euros will be a graveyard."

A spokeswoman for Paris public prosecutor Francois Molins said two people close to Abballa would meet a judge on Saturday while a third one was released.


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Source: AAP



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Belgian police detain 12 terror suspects | SBS News