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Belgium Police Arrest Two Over Suspected New Year's Eve Terror Attack Plot In Brussels

Two Arrested Over Suspected New Year's Eve Terror Attack Plot In Brussels
Kathryn Snowdon
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Belgium police have arrested two people on suspicion of planning terror attacks in the capital on New Year's Eve.

Raids took place on Sunday and Monday in the Brussels area, the Liege region and Flemish Brabant, the federal prosecutor's office said on Tuesday.

The searches uncovered military-type training uniforms and propaganda materials from the Islamic State group. The prosecutors office said that no weapons or explosives were found.

It has not been clarified whether the suspects are male or female.

Six people were taken in for questioning following the raids but four were released.

The investigation revealed "the threat of serious attacks that would target several emblematic places in Brussels and be committed during the end-of-year holidays," the prosecutor's office said.

One person was charged with acting as the leader and recruiter of a terrorist group planning to commit terrorist offenses, the other with participating in a terrorist group's activities as a principal actor or co-actor, the Associated Press reports.

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The prosecutor's office said no additional details would be made public, but that the probe was not connected to the November 13 attacks in Paris, in which numerous suspects, including presumed ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud and fugitive Salah Abdeslam, had connections to Belgium.

On November 21, after the Paris attacks that killed 130 and injured hundreds, the terrorist alert level for all of the Belgian capital was temporarily raised to its maximum level.

Brussels was placed on lockdown following fears that the capital could be the target of an "imminent" terrorist attack "like the one that happened in Paris".

Soldiers and heavily armed police patrolled the Belgian city as citizens were warned to avoid crowded ares, such as shopping centres and concerts.

Following the lockdown, parts of the city looked like a Ghost Town.

Also on the Huffington Post UK:

Brussels On Lockdown After Terror Alert
BELGIUM-FRANCE-ATTACKS(01 of13)
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Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel (C) speaks during a joint press conference with Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Employment, Economy and Consumer Affairs Kris Peeters (L) and Vice Prime Minister and Interior Minister Jan Jambon after a meeting of the national security council in Brussels on November 21, 2015. Brussels was on terror lockdown, with a gunman still on the run after the Paris attacks which have rattled nerves throughout Europe. AFP PHOTO / BELGA / NICOLAS MAETERLINCK (Photo credit should read NICOLAS MAETERLINCK/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:NICOLAS MAETERLINCK via Getty Images)
BELGIUM-ATTACKS-ALERT(02 of13)
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A journalist interviews a man as a soldier patrols the Rue Neuve pedestrian shopping street in Brussels on November 21, 2015. All metro train stations in Brussels will be closed on November 21, the city's public transport network said after Belgium raised the capital's terror alert to the highest level, warning of an 'imminent threat'. As Europe tightens security a week on from the jihadist attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead, Belgium's OCAM national crisis centre raised its alert level to 4 early on November 21, 'signifying a very serious threat for the Brussels region'. AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYS (Photo credit should read JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:JOHN THYS via Getty Images)
BELGIUM-ATTACKS-ALERT(03 of13)
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People walk down the the Rue Neuve pedestrian shopping street in Brussels on November 21, 2015. All metro train stations in Brussels will be closed on November 21, the city's public transport network said after Belgium raised the capital's terror alert to the highest level, warning of an 'imminent threat'. As Europe tightens security a week on from the jihadist attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead, Belgium's OCAM national crisis centre raised its alert level to 4 early on November 21, 'signifying a very serious threat for the Brussels region'. AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYS (Photo credit should read JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:JOHN THYS via Getty Images)
BELGIUM-ATTACKS-ALERT(04 of13)
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Soldiers patrol the Rue Neuve pedestrian shopping street in Brussels on November 21, 2015. All metro train stations in Brussels will be closed on November 21, the city's public transport network said after Belgium raised the capital's terror alert to the highest level, warning of an 'imminent threat'. As Europe tightens security a week on from the jihadist attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead, Belgium's OCAM national crisis centre raised its alert level to 4 early on November 21, 'signifying a very serious threat for the Brussels region'. AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYS (Photo credit should read JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:JOHN THYS via Getty Images)
BELGIUM-ATTACKS-ALERT(05 of13)
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Soldiers patrol the Rue Neuve pedestrian shopping street in Brussels on November 21, 2015. All metro train stations in Brussels will be closed on November 21, the city's public transport network said after Belgium raised the capital's terror alert to the highest level, warning of an 'imminent threat'. As Europe tightens security a week on from the jihadist attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead, Belgium's OCAM national crisis centre raised its alert level to 4 early on November 21, 'signifying a very serious threat for the Brussels region'. AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYS (Photo credit should read JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:JOHN THYS via Getty Images)
BELGIUM-ATTACKS-ALERT(06 of13)
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A soldier patrols he Rue Neuve pedestrian shopping street in Brussels on November 21, 2015. All metro train stations in Brussels will be closed on November 21, the city's public transport network said after Belgium raised the capital's terror alert to the highest level, warning of an 'imminent threat'. As Europe tightens security a week on from the jihadist attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead, Belgium's OCAM national crisis centre raised its alert level to 4 early on November 21, 'signifying a very serious threat for the Brussels region'. AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYS (Photo credit should read JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:JOHN THYS via Getty Images)
BELGIUM-ATTACKS-ALERT(07 of13)
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A soldier patrols the Rue Neuve pedestrian shopping street in Brussels on November 21, 2015. All metro train stations in Brussels will be closed on November 21, the city's public transport network said after Belgium raised the capital's terror alert to the highest level, warning of an 'imminent threat'. As Europe tightens security a week on from the jihadist attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead, Belgium's OCAM national crisis centre raised its alert level to 4 early on November 21, 'signifying a very serious threat for the Brussels region'. AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYS (Photo credit should read JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:JOHN THYS via Getty Images)
BELGIUM-ATTACKS-ALERT(08 of13)
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Women with umbrellas walk past a soldier patrolling the Rue Neuve pedestrian shopping street in Brussels on November 21, 2015. All metro train stations in Brussels will be closed on November 21, the city's public transport network said after Belgium raised the capital's terror alert to the highest level, warning of an 'imminent threat'. As Europe tightens security a week on from the jihadist attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead, Belgium's OCAM national crisis centre raised its alert level to 4 early on November 21, 'signifying a very serious threat for the Brussels region'. AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYS (Photo credit should read JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:JOHN THYS via Getty Images)
BELGIUM-ATTACKS-ALERT(09 of13)
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A man walks by a military vehicle parked in front of the Central Railways station in Brussels on November 21, 2015. All metro train stations in Brussels will be closed today, the city's public transport network said after Belgium raised the capital's terror alert to the highest level, warning of an 'imminent threat'. As Europe tightens security a week on from the jihadist attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead, Belgium's OCAM national crisis centre raised its alert level to 4 early on November 21, 'signifying a very serious threat for the Brussels region'. AFP PHOTO/JOHN THYS (Photo credit should read JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:JOHN THYS via Getty Images)
Terror alert in Brussels(10 of13)
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BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - NOVEMBER 21: Belgian security forces patrol on the streets as the Belgian authorities raised the terror alert to the level 4, highest level warning of an 'imminent threat', in Brussels, Belgium on November 21, 2015. Authorities warn the people keeping away from crowded areas as well as subway stations temporarily restricted for entrance. (Photo by Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Terror alert in Brussels(11 of13)
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BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - NOVEMBER 21: Belgian security forces patrol on the streets as the Belgian authorities raised the terror alert to the level 4, highest level warning of an 'imminent threat', in Brussels, Belgium on November 21, 2015. Authorities warn the people keeping away from crowded areas as well as subway stations temporarily restricted for entrance. (Photo by Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Terror alert in Brussels(12 of13)
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BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - NOVEMBER 21: A subway station entrance is seen closed as the Belgian authorities raised the terror alert to the level 4, highest level warning of an 'imminent threat', in Brussels, Belgium on November 21, 2015. Authorities warn the people keeping away from crowded areas as well as subway stations temporarily restricted for entrance. (Photo by Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
BELGIUM-ATTACKS-ALERT(13 of13)
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A photo shows a closed entrance of the Shuman Subway Station in Brussels on November 21, 2015. All metro train stations in Brussels will be closed today, the city's public transport network said after Belgium raised the capital's terror alert to the highest level, warning of an 'imminent threat'. As Europe tightens security a week on from the jihadist attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead, Belgium's OCAM national crisis centre raised its alert level to 4 early on November 21, 'signifying a very serious threat for the Brussels region'. AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYS (Photo credit should read JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:JOHN THYS via Getty Images)
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