Belgian Police Break Up Terror Plot Linked to al-Qaeda

A planned terror strike in Europe that Belgian police claim to have foiled on Thursday was linked with al-Qaeda, authorities say. Some of the 14 suspects arrested had recently traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan, officials said, and had planned to launch a suicide strike — although its target remains unknown. “When you have people returning from Afghanistan as most of these people had, they’re sufficiently hard-core that the question isn’t whether they’ll be undertaking plotting activity, but when, and in what form,” said a European counter-terrorism official with knowledge of the case. “What’s important for us to learn is, if the Taliban or their al-Qaeda allies decide to strike us today, who are they going to do it with: their old European networks, [or] via Pakistani groups, jihadist organizations in north Africa, or maybe other operatives? The situation evolves constantly, and we’ve got to keep up with it.”

Thursday’s raids were carried out in Brussels and the eastern city of Liege, where police carried off computers, hard drives, and at least one gun. Though Belgian authorities say they have no firm idea of exactly how, when or where an attack was to have been carried out, they decided to move on the group after learning one member had recorded a farewell video to his family. “We don’t know who the suicide bomber was targeting, but we know he was ready to go,” says Lieve Pellens, spokeswoman for the Belgian Public Prosecutor. “He had said his goodbyes.”

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