Today, police in Antwerp, Belgium raided 13 homes and arrested 13 terror suspects. It is alleged they have been spreading jihadist propaganda on social media. One of the suspects had previously been intercepted as a minor trying to travel to Syria in 2015.
The below article from the Belgian Daily, De Standaard, is translated from Dutch by Fousesquawk.
https://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20220208_93853757
13 arrests in Antwerp during house searches in terror case involving jihadist propaganda
Today at 11:47 by Sare Me
In a large police operation in Antwerp Tuesday morning, 13 alleged members of a terrorist group were arrested. They have reportedly spread jihadist propaganda.
About 100 investigators from the Federal Judicial Police raided 13 addresses Tuesday morning in the Antwerp region, including Borgerhout, Hoboken, and Borsbeek. "The house searches were ordered by an investigative judge in the framework of a case in the Federal Prosecutor (office) involving participation in the activities of a terrorist group," the federal prosecutor's office confirmed.
House searches were conducted in various locations in Borgerhout. An equal number of suspects were arrested at the 13 locations. They will be brought later today before an investigative judge in Antwerp. "The Antwerp group came into the picture within the Salafist jihadist environment, and the aim of this action was to further chart this group," said the federal prosecutor's office. They give no further commentary about the police action.
Potentially new Sharia4Belgium*
The group has allegedly been engaged in spreading of Salafist-jihadist propaganda on social media. That allegedly includes inflammatory language and anti-Western propaganda. The detectives fear that the group, under the leadership of one of the suspects arrested today, could have the potential of becoming a new Sharia4Belgium.
According to our information, among the suspects, there are several men who also previously came under attention during terrorism investigations. One of them was intercepted in 2015, as a minor, on his way to Syria. He was eventually tried as an adult in Antwerp and received a suspended sentence.
* Sharia4Belgium was an Islamist organization that pushed for the introduction of sharia law into Belgium. They were declared a terrorist organization and disbanded in 2012.
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