Belgium Jihad-related Raid

**American Patriot** · January 15th, 2015, 19:02

Casualties in Belgium police anti-terror raid in Verviers

Three people killed in anti-terror raid in Verviers, after local residents report hearing gunfire and explosions

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Police blocking off the area in Verviers

By Bruno Waterfield, Brussels, and agencies

6:25PM GMT 15 Jan 2015

Three people have been killed during a terrorism-related police operation against suspected jihadists in Belgium, a federal prosecutor said.

Local residents in Verviers, in the east of the country, heard a fusillade of machine gun shots and explosions.

Reports indicate that the gunfight followed a foiled jihadist attack on a local police station.

“A second Paris has been avoided,” a ministry of justice source told Nieuwsblad newspaper.

A local resident said: "I heard two explosions and saw two young men run away. They were between 25 and 30 years of Arab origin."

Another local resident told RTBF television: "I heard a sort of explosion, followed by several gunshots. For the moment, I cannot tell you any more because I don't dare go out to see what is happening."

A third resident said "machineguns were firing for about 10 minutes."

The three men killed had been under surveillance after recently returning from Syria, according to police sources.

A number of people have been arrested. The operation is now believed to be over.

The Belgian prosecutor said the situation was "under control".

Another resident told RTBF television: "I was just going to pick up my kids from school. We saw a blue van and another car in the middle of the street.

"At first I thought it was an accident. But then we saw police cars right down the street.. A man walking on the street fled. I'm started running.
Immediately afterwards we heard three or four large explosions and gunfire."

The raid was part of a major anti-terrorist operation by the federal police being carried out across Belgium.

Earlier this week, police arrested an arms dealer alleged to be linked to the sale of weapons sold weapons used in the Paris terrorist attacks.

Neetin Farasula, from Charleroi in French-speaking southern Belgium, is thought to have been involved in negotiating the sale of guns to Amedy Coulibaly.

**American Patriot** · January 15th, 2015, 19:03

At least 2 dead in anti-terror raid in Belgium

Katharine Lackey, USA TODAY 1:57 p.m. EST January 15, 2015

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At least two were killed in a police raid on a terrorist cell in Belgium on Thursday, according to multiple media reports.
Several suspects were also taken into custody near a train station, CNN reported citing VTM News. Flemish broadcaster VRT said two were killed, one injured and one arrested. The operation took place in Verviers, located about 77 miles southeast of the capital of Brussels.
Belgium's federal prosecutor will hold an emergency news conference at 2 p.m. ET Thursday about the incident.
The raid comes amid heightened concern over terrorism in Europe in the wake of last week's Paris terror attacks. There's no indication yet that the police operation in Belgium is related to the attacks in France.
The Wall Street Journal citing Belgian media reported Thursday that Amedy Coulibaly, 32, may have bought weapons in Belgium that were used in his attack that left four dead at a kosher supermarket in Paris last week. An unnamed Belgian police official told the paper that it appears Coulibaly was looking for weapons in Belgium at some point but it's not clear if he actually purchased them there.
The Journal said the links tying Coulibaly to a Belgian man who said he bought a car from Coulibaly's wife, Hayat Boumeddiene, were murky. Belgian authorities were investigating any connection between the two after the man was arrested in the southern Charleroi region for illegal trade in weapons, according to Belgium federal prosecutor's spokesman Eric Van der Sypt.
The Belgian man's name has not been released. Boumeddiene is believed to have fled to Syria.
The Charleroi region is located more than 70 miles southwest of Verviers and about 40 miles south of Brussels.
A machine gun and handgun used by Coulibaly reportedly came from Brussels and Charleroi, The Telegraph reported citing unnamed police sources. In addition, the Klashnikov rifles and rocket launchers used by Cherif Kouachi and his brother, Said, in the attack on Charlie Hebdo's offices that left 12 dead were purchased by Coulibably in Brussels, The Telegraph reported.
The newspaper said police and public prosecutors haven't confirmed a link to Belgium and the Paris terror attacks.