BRUSSELS
The suspected group targeted in an anti-terror operation in Belgium’s eastern town of Verviers had been plotting to kill policemen in the area, Belgian public prosecutor has said.
Eric Van Der Sypt's comments came on Friday after 13 people were arrested in 12 raids, which began a day earlier, in different parts of Belgium including Verviers, the Flemish Brabant town of Liedekerke and the capital, Brussels.
Der Sypt told reporters in Brussels: "The investigation ... has shown that these people had the intention to kill several policemen in the street and at police commissariats [police stations].
"The operation was meant to not just dismantle a terrorist cell ... but also the logistics network behind it."
Police had followed a group of suspects who recently came back from Syria for weeks before staging the raids, said der Sypt.
'Serious blow'
Police sources said their units seized machine guns, ammunition, hand grenades, police uniforms, cash, walkie-talkies and mobiles phones in the raids.
Der Sypt added: "The investigation will have to show whether we have everyone", adding the raid had no link with last week’s attacks in Paris in which 17 people died.
"However, we can say that we delivered a serious blow to terrorism in Belgium. We were able to arrest all those who were on our list yesterday," he said.
Local Belgian media described Thursday’s anti-terror operation as the biggest ever held in Belgium.
European Commission – EU’s executive body – has decided to increase its safety level and introduce additional security measures, spokeswoman Mina Andreeva told reporters in Brussels.
About 300 people left Belgium in the two years preceding December 2014 to fight in Syria, according to the International Center for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence.
