Belgium charges three following vast anti-terror operations

Saturday, 18 June 2016 10:16 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 18 June 2016 11:30 PM ]

Belgian police officers patrol in central Brussels, Belgium, June 18, 2016. (REUTERS)

Belgian authorities have charged three men with terror-related crimes following two days of anti-terror operations, in which 40 people were detained, says the country’s prosecutor's office.

Three Belgian nationals have been charged “as perpetrator or co-perpetrator, for having attempted to commit a terrorist murder and for participation in the activities of a terrorist group," said a statement released on Saturday.

The statement added that nine other people had been released, and that the raids were carried out in 16 municipalities, mostly around Brussels. The statement noted that the “results of the investigation necessitated an immediate intervention."

*Belgian police officers and soldiers secure a road outside the prime minister's office building during a meeting of the government's security council in Brussels, Belgium, June 18, 2016. (Reuters)*

Hailing the results of the raids, Interior Minister Jan Jambon said that, "It is not over. We remain under terror alert three, it means that something is still up."

Earlier, Belgian media reported that Takfiri terrorists may launch attacks on a football fan zone in the capital, where the country’s games in the Euro 2016 tournament in France are being screened.

The country has been on terror alert three since the November attacks in Paris and the March attacks in Brussels airport and subway.

*Vice-Prime Minister and Interior Minister Jan Jambon arrives for a meeting of the security council after the dismantling of a new terrorist unit, in Brussels, on June 18, 2016. (AFP)*

On Friday, four Belgian federal ministers, along with their families, were placed under police protection, after receiving death threats.

"We learned about that late yesterday that this close protection would happen. They say there are good reasons for that," said Justice Minister Koen Geens, who was among the threatened ministers.

A picture taken on March 23, 2016 shows the flight information display system at Brussels Airport, in Zaventem, a day after triple bomb attacks at the Brussels airport and at a subway train station killed 31 people and wounded more than 200. (AFP)

On November 13, Daesh launched a series of attacks in Paris, killing some 130 people. Investigations into the incident revealed that the perpetrators were mostly Belgium-based. And on March 22, two bomb attacks at Brussels airport killed at least 14 people and left nearly 100 people wounded, while a separate bombing in a metro station killed around 20 people and injured about 100 more.

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