Police arrest two brothers over alleged terror attack plot in Belgium

Two brothers are being held by police in Belgium suspected of planning an attack in the country, prosecutors say. The men, named only as Nourredine H, 33, and his brother Hamza H, were arrested after a series of houses were searched on Friday evening. Raids were carried out in the cities of Mons and Liège by federal police, although no weapons or explosives were found. The federal prosecution office said in a statement there were plans to launch an attack somewhere in Belgium, although the French version of the statement referred to “planning attacks” in the plural.

Based on provisional results from the investigation, it appears that there were plans to carry out an attack somewhere in Belgium

Belgian prosecutors

Belgium is on a high state of security alert, meaning the threat is considered serious, possible and probable. It comes after 32 people were killed in March after assaults on Brussels Airport and a metro station. Last month, Belgian police received warning that a group of Islamic State fighters had recently left Syria en route for Europe planning attacks in Belgium and France. There is currently no connection between the arrests and the March attacks, federal prosecutors said. A judge will later decide whether the arrested pair should be detained in custody beyond an initial 24 hours.

terror arrest