In the freshly launched anti-terror campaign by Belgian authorities, two suspected terrorists were killed.
In the wake of brazen terrorist attacks against France, and Al Qaeda announcing that more European countries will be targeted in the future, Belgian authorities unleashed a new campaign against terrorists on Thursday. In the series of raids and arrests that unfolded across the nation, a group of suspects opened fire on police.
Two members of the group returning from Syria were killed near German border in Verviers, reported BBC. According to prosecutor Eric Van der Sypt, a third person has been arrested in the raid and no police officers or the public were harmed.
In an interview with the press following the killing, Verviers' Mayor Marc Elsen promised that "everything is under control".
The shoot-out took place around 5.00 pm local time in a former bakery shop in the south-eastern town of Verviers in the French-speaking region of Wallonia, reports EU Observer.
Ven der Sypt clarified that the suspected jihadists were intent on launching attacks in a matter of hours, most probably a police station, which was sure to result in numerous causalities.
The terror threat level in Belgium is placed at three out of five, and British Prime Minister is calling it "yet another indication of the huge risk we face from Islamist extremist terror in Europe".
The spokesman for the Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said the security operation "shows the government's determination to fight those who want to spread terror".
