Prime Minister Charles Michel said the nation would remain “extremely vigilant, hour by hour”, but that the terror level across the nation would remain at the second-highest level, meaning a threat of an attack “is possible and likely”. The attacks targeted the capital’s Zaventem airport and Maalbeek subway station.
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“It is not over”.
The late-night raids on dozens of houses and 152 garages came amid heightened terrorism fears in Europe and the United States.
They were among 12 people who were arrested across the country, and the other nine held have since been released.
The federal prosecutor’s office did not link the raids to the March 22 attacks, even though an eighth suspect was arrested as part of the investigation of those attacks late on Friday.
The suspect was identified as Youssef E.A., 30, accused of aiding and abetting the terrorist organization that carried out the Brussels attacks. “They say there are good reasons for that”, Geens said.
The statement added: “Currently no further information can be given concerning the seized items or the identities of the arrested persons”. The overnight anti-terror raids were not linked to the threat to politicians, RTBF said.
Police in Belgium have made 12 arrests in a huge anti-terror operation, almost three months after the deadly bomb attacks on Brussels.
Belgian media has also reported that four top ministers, including Prime Minister Charles Michel, have received special protection following unspecified threats.
According to the Flemish commercial channel VTM, the threat hanging over the events related to the football match that Belgium must deliver Saturday at 3:00 pm (13:00 GMT) against Ireland in the context of Euro-2016 in France.
Islamic extremist suicide bombers killed 32 people in Brussels in March following attacks in Paris in November in which 130 people died.
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Molenbeek is notorious for being a hotbed of Islamic extremism where Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving member of the 10-man jihadist team that attacked Paris, hid out for months until his dramatic arrest on March 18.
