Eight “youths” in Belgium who had been “radicalized” were arrested for planning terror attacks, and may face stiff sentences if convicted, possibly as long as six months in a detention center. (OK, so I made that last part up, but still…)

Many thanks to Gary Fouse for translating this article from the Flemish daily Het Nieuwsblad:

After frustrating two possible attacks: Teenaged suspect arrested three years ago for planning terror attack

In two different cases in Antwerp and Brussels, a group of radicalized youths has been arrested, and thus two attacks may have been foiled. Eight people are under arrest. One of the suspects is a 19-year-old Kosovar, who was making plans at the end of 2020 to carry out an attack on a police station.

For some time the Antwerp Federal Judicial Police had their eye on a group of radicalized youths. According to our information, it concerns a group of adults, among others, a man from Merksem, a man from Duerne, and a girlfriend of one of them. They are reportedly young men who, in a short space of time, became radicalized within the radical Islamist environment.

At least one of them, according to the federal prosecutor’s office, had concrete, advanced plans to carry out an attack. The group was reportedly searching for weapons. The target was not yet determined, according to the federal prosecutor’s office. Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open VLD-Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats party) describes it as “a plot against government entities”. Whether weapons have actually been found, the justice authorities do not say.

Oostkantons

The group was in contact on social media with a man from Eupen in the Oostkantons [Eastern Kantons-region in East Belgium]. The 19-year-old S.B., as a 17-year-old in October of 2020, was arrested together with a 16-year-old friend, on the order of the federal prosecutor’s office. The duo were in contact with another radicalized person in Austria. They had sworn allegiance to the Islamic State in a video, in which they made plans to carry out an attack on a police station in Luik.

The two were then sent to a juvenile institution by a juvenile court judge.

S.B. was currently free under supervision, but he was in a radicalized environment in Verviers. This time, he was reportedly not the key figure in a planned attack, but he may have inspired the group in Antwerp.

Second group

The Federal Judicial Police in Brussels were also keeping an eye on a group of radicalized youths. This concerns three persons from Molenbeek, Schaarbeck, and Zaventam. Here also, they discovered that one of them was making plans to carry out a terror attack and was looking for weapons.

When the investigators determined that the two groups knew each other and were in contact, it was decided to intervene. On Monday evening, a search of eight addresses was organized, and eight suspects were arrested.

On Wednesday, the eight were brought before an investigating judge, who must decide on their detention.