(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Two militants killed as plan to shoot cops across the country foiled googletag.
Brussels: Belgian investigators said a plot to murder police officers across the country had been foiled “within hours or days” of being launched by raids in which two gunmen were killed.
Belgian police inspect the entrance of an apartment in central Verviers in the east of Belgium on Thursday after the shootout. — Reuters
Fifteen suspects were in custody on Friday they said after a dozen raids around Brussels and in Verviers the eastern town where two men believed to have fought in Syria were shot dead on Thursday after opening fire on police with assault weapons.
With security tightened across Europe a man with a military weapon took hostages at post office near Paris. The incident which ended with his surrender unfolded after Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in the city to offer US solidarity in combatting militants.
In Belgium Prime Minister Charles Michel urged people not to panic saying authorities believed their actions had thwarted any imminent attack. Home to half a million Muslims or five per cent of the population Belgium believes some 300 citizens have fought in Syria — the highest rate per head in Europe.
Security was tight at public buildings in the capital and at police stations. The army provided 150 troops to bolster police who were instructed not to patrol alone. At the Verviers apartment where the two still unidentified gunmen died security forces found police uniforms as well as four AK-47 rifles.
Officials declined comment on reports of threats to behead a policeman but said the targets were all over the country.
“This group was on the point of carrying out terrorist attacks aiming to kill police officers in the streets and in police stations” state prosecutor Eric Van Der Sypt told a news conference. They were set to act “in the next hours or days”.
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