AFP
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 04:05
The four terror suspects arrested in Belgium yesterday are boys between the ages of 15 and 18. The Belgian Public Prosecution Service says that they come from a jihadist background. They are suspected of participating in a terrorist organization and of preparing an attack.
The boys were arrested yesterday morning in Brussels, Charleroi, Liège and Ninove. Three of them are minors, but the age of only the youngest has been released.
“The suspects are very young. That unfortunately confirms the current threat assessment,” said Minister of Justice Van Tigchelt on VRT. “It is not the first time that we have seen that young people become radicalized very quickly, especially via social media, via closed communication groups.”
‘Concrete place’
Justice does not want to say how concrete the plans for an attack were. In any case, they were specific enough to arrest them, says a spokesperson for the federal public prosecutor’s office.
According to Belgian media the attack plans appear from chat conversations. It would have mentioned a specific place in Brussels and a date. No explosive weapons were found in the suspects’ homes.
The group is being interrogated. A juvenile judge must decide whether the three minor suspects will remain in custody. The 18-year-old will appear before a regular investigating judge today.
2024-03-04 03:05:06
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