Belgian authorities arrested two people on suspicion of being involved in an ISIS-inspired plot to attack “emblematic sites” in Brussels during New Year’s festivities, the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office said Thursday.
The arrests are not linked to the deadly Nov. 13 terror attack in Paris, which authorities say were carried out by a number of militants who had been living in Belgium.
The recently foiled plot is believed to have been inspired by the Islamic State terrorist group, but not directed by its members, a senior Belgian counterterrorism official told CNN.
The suspected attackers planned to target several prominent sites in Brussels during New Year’s celebrations. No further details about the alleged plot were released.
One source close to the investigation told The Guardian that Brussels’ main square, which is typically packed with tourists and shoppers this time of year, was a suspected target.
The names of the suspects were not released. One of them was arrested on suspicion of playing a leading role in the threat of attacks, participating in the activities of a terrorist group as a leader and recruiting to commit terrorist offenses as author or co-author, according to CNN.
The other was being held on suspicion of playing a leading role in the threat of attacks and taking part in the activities of a terrorist group as an author or co-author, the prosecutor’s office said.
Benoît Ramacker, a spokesman for the Belgian government’s Ocam national crisis centre, said the organisation had raised its alert level for police and soldiers on duty in Brussels, which houses the EU and Nato headquarters, the Guardian reported.
Belgian authorities are still searching for suspects believed to be involved in the Paris attacks, which left 130 dead and hundreds more injured.
An international arrest warrant has been issued for Brussels-born Salah Abdeslam, 26, who French authorities say play a major role in planning the Paris attacks and is thought to have returned to Belgium in the days following the attacks.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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