Several people were killed in an anti-terrorism operation in the Belgian city of Verviers, CNN affiliate VTM News reported. Federal Belgian police took suspects into custody near a train station, VTM News reported. Ref. CNN
A suspected terror cell on the brink of carrying out an attack was the target of a raid that left two people dead, Belgian authorities said.
A third suspect was injured and taken into custody in the operation at a building in the eastern city of Verviers, prosecutor's spokesman Thierry Werts told reporters.
A senior Belgian counterterrorism official told CNN that the alleged terror cell is believed to have received instructions from ISIS. Ref. CNN
Applause to the Belgians on stopping what looks like a sleeper cell waiting to cause destruction. Here is to hope that the rest of Europe is equally quick.
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The plan of the Verviers attackers was to kill police "On public roads or at police stations," The Belgian federal prosecutor says.
Police in Belgium also recovered several firearms, large sums of money and GPS devices in terror related raids in Belgian cities. Ref. CNN
Belgium justice minister: Arrests made in Brussels related to Paris terror attacks
A "Number of" Arrests have been made in Brussels related to the Paris terror attacks, according to Belgium's justice minister, AP and Belgian media reported. Following the attacks in Paris, witnesses reported that assailants were driving in a car with Belgian plates, Le Figaro quotes police as saying. Ref. USAToday
Suspected mastermind of Paris attacks identified
A French official identified the suspected mastermind of the attacks that killed 132 people in Paris on Friday as Belgian national Abdelhamid Abaaoud, and said he is believed to be linked to thwarted attacks on a Paris-bound high-speed train and a church in the Paris area, the Associated Press and Reuters reported. French radio station RTL described Abaaoud, 27, as "One of the most active (Islamic State) executioners" In Syria. Ref. USAToday
Authorities have launched 6 raids in Belgium in relation to the Paris attacks and Paris suicide bomber Bilal Hadfi, officials said. Ref. CNN
Belgium has placed Brussels at the highest terror alert level, citing a "Serious and imminent threat that requires taking specific security measures as well as specific recommendations for the population."
The announcement by the Crisis Centre of the Belgian Interior Ministry is advising the public to avoid places where large groups gather -- such as concerts, sporting events, airports and train stations -- and comply with security checks.
The increase in alert level comes as authorities investigating last week's terror attacks in Paris conduct raids in Belgium as they work to identify and take down the network of terrorists behind the carnage. Ref. CNN