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01-16-2015, 04:18 AM
‘Second Paris’ averted by hours: Belgian police HQ under armed guard after two suspected ISIS jihadists are killed as commandos swoop on cell before imminent attack on local station
Men targeted were under surveillance and suspected of planning attacks after returning from Syria last week
Residents heard shots and explosions, including machine gun fire, as masked officers swooped on the apartment
Two suspects were killed and a third arrested and charged with belonging to a terrorist organisation
Islamic State video published yesterday called for lone-wolf attacks in Europe, saying 'Kill all the infidels'
Comes after investigators said they were probing arms dealer who sold guns to deli killer Amedy Coulibaly
By DAMIEN GAYLE FOR MAILONLINE and DAVID WILLIAMS, CHIEF REPORTER FOR THE DAILY MAIL and PETER ALLEN and ASSOCIATED PRESS and REUTERS
PUBLISHED: 13:00 EST, 15 January 2015 | UPDATED: 23:47 EST, 15 January 2015
Belgium's police HQ was last night under armed guard after anti-terror commandos shot dead two suspected Islamic State jihadis and arrested a third in an eastern town.
Shots and explosions were heard, including machine gun fire, as heavily armed, masked officers moved against the alleged cell in the eastern town of Verviers, which is some 70 miles from Brussels.
‘A second Paris has been avoided,’ an official from Belgium’s ministry of justice was quoted as saying, with reports claiming the jihadis had planned to launch attacks on police in the country.
It comes after an Islamic State video published yesterday showed French-speaking fighters telling Muslims in Europe: 'If you see a police officer in the street, kill him. Kill them all. Kill all the infidels you see on the street.'
Scroll down for videos
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2912037/Anti-terror-raid-Belgian-town-centre-leaves-three-dead.html#ixzz3OxUnCqC5
BELGIUM: A HUB FOR JIHADISTS
Belgian has long been viewed as a hub for jihadists going to Syria.
A high-profile court case is currently going on in Antwerp in which 43 men and three women alleged to be members of Sharia4Belgium, a group linked with IS. Thirty-seven are still believed to be in Syria, including two of the three women, and are being tried in absentia. Charges range from terrorism to kidnapping and murder.
Mehdi Nemmouche, a 29-year-old alleged French jihadist is currently awaiting trial in Brussels for shooting dead four people at the city's Jewish Museum after returning to Europe from Syria last year.
Belgium, which has long been home to a large Muslim population, is believed to have the highest proportion of citizens who have left to fight in the Middle East, after Britain. Estimates put the number of Belgian citizens who have travelled to the Syrian region - so-called 'foreign fighters' - at up to 400.
According to Europol, Belgium was one of a number of EU countries that defused terrorist plots last year. Dutch media reported in October that Belgian police had averted a planned terrorist attack on the European Commission's Berlaymont building in Brussels.
Men targeted were under surveillance and suspected of planning attacks after returning from Syria last week
Residents heard shots and explosions, including machine gun fire, as masked officers swooped on the apartment
Two suspects were killed and a third arrested and charged with belonging to a terrorist organisation
Islamic State video published yesterday called for lone-wolf attacks in Europe, saying 'Kill all the infidels'
Comes after investigators said they were probing arms dealer who sold guns to deli killer Amedy Coulibaly
By DAMIEN GAYLE FOR MAILONLINE and DAVID WILLIAMS, CHIEF REPORTER FOR THE DAILY MAIL and PETER ALLEN and ASSOCIATED PRESS and REUTERS
PUBLISHED: 13:00 EST, 15 January 2015 | UPDATED: 23:47 EST, 15 January 2015
Belgium's police HQ was last night under armed guard after anti-terror commandos shot dead two suspected Islamic State jihadis and arrested a third in an eastern town.
Shots and explosions were heard, including machine gun fire, as heavily armed, masked officers moved against the alleged cell in the eastern town of Verviers, which is some 70 miles from Brussels.
‘A second Paris has been avoided,’ an official from Belgium’s ministry of justice was quoted as saying, with reports claiming the jihadis had planned to launch attacks on police in the country.
It comes after an Islamic State video published yesterday showed French-speaking fighters telling Muslims in Europe: 'If you see a police officer in the street, kill him. Kill them all. Kill all the infidels you see on the street.'
Scroll down for videos
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2912037/Anti-terror-raid-Belgian-town-centre-leaves-three-dead.html#ixzz3OxUnCqC5
BELGIUM: A HUB FOR JIHADISTS
Belgian has long been viewed as a hub for jihadists going to Syria.
A high-profile court case is currently going on in Antwerp in which 43 men and three women alleged to be members of Sharia4Belgium, a group linked with IS. Thirty-seven are still believed to be in Syria, including two of the three women, and are being tried in absentia. Charges range from terrorism to kidnapping and murder.
Mehdi Nemmouche, a 29-year-old alleged French jihadist is currently awaiting trial in Brussels for shooting dead four people at the city's Jewish Museum after returning to Europe from Syria last year.
Belgium, which has long been home to a large Muslim population, is believed to have the highest proportion of citizens who have left to fight in the Middle East, after Britain. Estimates put the number of Belgian citizens who have travelled to the Syrian region - so-called 'foreign fighters' - at up to 400.
According to Europol, Belgium was one of a number of EU countries that defused terrorist plots last year. Dutch media reported in October that Belgian police had averted a planned terrorist attack on the European Commission's Berlaymont building in Brussels.