AFP, Brussels :
Belgium’s government is ready to call in troops to increase security after a huge police swoop against a suspected militant cell that was planning attacks on police, Prime Minister Charles Michel said on Friday.
“The army will be available to reinforce our levels of security,” Mr Michel said after a special cabinet meeting, which discussed other steps such as isolating Islamist prisoners in special sections in jails.
The government raised the threat alert to three on a scale of four on Thursday, providing the basis for it to use the military, Interior Minister Jan Jambon said. “A company of 150 men stands ready for deployment.”
Govt raises level of threat alert Defence Minister Steven Vandeput said the men could deploy very quickly and would remain in place for “as long as the government believes it is necessary”.
This would be the first time the army has been called on to bolster security on Belgium’s streets since attacks in the 1980s by extreme leftist groups.
Belgian police arrested 13 people during a dozen raids overnight, smashing plot to kill police officers “in public roads and in police stations”, prosecutors said on Friday.
Belgium’s government is ready to call in troops to increase security after a huge police swoop against a suspected militant cell that was planning attacks on police, Prime Minister Charles Michel said on Friday.
“The army will be available to reinforce our levels of security,” Mr Michel said after a special cabinet meeting, which discussed other steps such as isolating Islamist prisoners in special sections in jails.
The government raised the threat alert to three on a scale of four on Thursday, providing the basis for it to use the military, Interior Minister Jan Jambon said. “A company of 150 men stands ready for deployment.”
Govt raises level of threat alert Defence Minister Steven Vandeput said the men could deploy very quickly and would remain in place for “as long as the government believes it is necessary”.
This would be the first time the army has been called on to bolster security on Belgium’s streets since attacks in the 1980s by extreme leftist groups.
Belgian police arrested 13 people during a dozen raids overnight, smashing plot to kill police officers “in public roads and in police stations”, prosecutors said on Friday.
