Brussels – Washington Post – January 16 — Police arrested at least two dozen people across Europe Friday suspected of providing support to last week’s terrorist attacks or having links to Islamic extremism as security forces fanned across the continent to prevent fresh violence.
In Brussels, officials announced that 13 people had been arrested in Belgium and two in France after a vast anti-terrorism sweep following a fire-fight Thursday evening in which two suspected terrorists were killed in the eastern city of Verviers.
They said they recovered four Kalashnikov rifles, a cache of small arms, explosives, and several Belgian police uniforms in the raids. Eric van der Sypt, a spokesman for the Belgian prosecutor’s office, said the uniforms were intended to allow the attackers to pass as police officers. He said the militants were planning to kill police on the street or in their offices.
Numerous streets were shut down in Brussels, police were out in force, and citizens were asked not to approach police stations except in emergencies.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said 10 people were detained in anti-terrorism raids in the Paris region overnight. Police wanted to question the ten on their “possible logistical support”— mainly with arms and vehicles — to the three gunmen who attacked Charlie Hebdo and the kosher supermarket.