Belgian Police Detain Man From Molenbeek On Suspicions Of Preparing Attack - Prosecution

Belgian law enforcement officers have detained a man from the Belgium's central Molenbeek municipality on suspicions of preparing an attack, but it has not been established yet whether he was directly linked to any terrorist activities, a source from the Belgian Federal Prosecutor's Office told Sputnik on Thursday

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th January, 2019) Belgian law enforcement officers have detained a man from the Belgium's central Molenbeek municipality on suspicions of preparing an attack, but it has not been established yet whether he was directly linked to any terrorist activities, a source from the Belgian Federal Prosecutor's Office told Sputnik on Thursday.

Earlier on Thursday, Belgian daily newspaper La Derniere Heure reported that a man from Molenbeek had been detained in the eastern Belgian city of Liege earlier in the week, supposedly, for staging a "terrorism-related" offense.

"The suspect was detained as a precautionary measure as part of an investigation, the details of which we are not currently disclosing in the interests of the investigation.

No direct link to terrorism has been identified so far. The investigation is ongoing," the spokesman said.

He added that the investigators had reason to believe that the suspect could "proceed to action" since he had a significant amount of bladed weapons in his possession.

According to Belgian news portal Sudinfo, searches in Molenbeek and Leuven, a city located not far from the Belgian capital of Brussels, have been carried out as part of the investigation.