9

2 comments

[–] Boukert [OP] 1 points (+1|-0) Edited

The police have arrested seven men who are suspected of plotting a major terrorist attack in the Netherlands. Three of the men come from Arnhem, two from Rotterdam, one from Huissen and one from Vlaardingen.

The seven suspects were arrested in the late afternoon by anti-terrorism teams in Arnhem and Weert. They had five small arms with them. Tomorrow they will be introduced to the examining magistrate in Rotterdam.

The youngest suspect is 21 years old, the oldest is 34. The pivot in the group is a 34-year-old man of Iraqi origin from Arnhem. He was convicted in 2017 because he wanted to travel to IS's battlefield. Two others have also been convicted for the same reason. AK47s

In April 2018, a criminal investigation began on the man of 34, with information from the AIVD. He would have wanted an attack on a major event in the Netherlands. The intention was that there would be many victims. At the same time, according to the Public Prosecution Service, the suspects wanted to detonate a car bomb at another location.

Before the attack, the suspects were looking for automatic AK47-type guns, small arms, hand grenades, bombs and bombs for bombs. This month the investigation gained momentum because the preparations of the group seemed to be at an advanced stage, says the Public Prosecution Service.

The Public Prosecution Service is convinced that a large terrorist attack has been prevented with the arrests. The threat level in the Netherlands remains unchanged. Minister

Minister Grapperhaus of Justice and Security: "In a sense, this is violent, but fortunately also good news." A terrorist cell was arrested and rolled up. "The services received signals in April this year that a person had been in IS territory and possibly A large criminal investigation network has been set up around that man and this has led to the police being able to arrest these people with special interventions. "

The Minister does not want to say anything about the intended target in the interest of the investigation. "The group was not so far away yet that it was almost too late, but they were quite late in the preparations," he says.

Grapperhaus wants to keep the threat level in the Netherlands at 4. That means that the chance of an attack is real. The highest level is 5. "I see my own care confirmed here, we have to keep the threat level really high, we have excellent services, but we must remain alert as a society."