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.” Read more