The four teenagers (aged between 15 and 18) arrested on Sunday on suspicion of terrorism likely wanted to carry out an attack on an unnamed concert venue in Brussels and reportedly even had a concrete date for their plans.
In two investigations by the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office and the Dendermonde Prosecutor's Office, four people were arrested during searches this weekend. It concerns three minors from Ninove, Brussels and Charleroi, and one adult from Liège who were all allegedly organising an attack.
"These are individuals suspected of preparing a terrorist attack," Eric Van Der Sypt of the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office told VRT. "We have to frame the individuals in the jihadist milieu."
The group had come into contact with each other online and had begun to make plans to carry out an attack, investigators believe. Speaking to VTM NEWS on Sunday, Federal Justice Minister Paul Van Tigchelt (Open Vld) said that they communicated via "closed chat groups." It is now being investigated whether they had links to other people at home and/or abroad.
From 15 to 18 years old
No weapons or explosives were found during the searches, but the Prosecutor's Office did confiscate some laptops and mobile phones for further investigation. The 18-year-old suspect was brought before the investigating judge on Monday.
"He was charged with participating in the activities of a terrorist group and preparatory acts with a view to committing a terrorist attack," the Federal Prosecutor's Office confirmed in a press release on Monday afternoon. "According to the first elements of the investigation, it seems that a Brussels concert hall was specifically and concretely targeted, with an action planned within a few weeks."
The Federal Prosecutor's Office did not provide further information on the situation of the detained minors. The youngest is barely 15, the other two are said to be at least 16 years old. All three were questioned by a Dendermonde investigating judge.
"The suspects are indeed very young. This is unfortunately a confirmation of the current threat picture," said Van Tigchelt. "It is not the first time that we see young people radicalising very quickly, especially through social media, through closed communication groups."
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"From the moment the services become aware of alleged attack plans, nothing is left to chance and they intervene immediately," he added. The Prosecutor's Office is still investigating whether it was a case of showing off, or whether the plans were concrete.
"But in any case, there was sympathy for Islamic State (IS)," Van Der Sypt added.
OCAM, the coordinating body for threat analysis, has taken stock of 2023 and noted an increase in threats in Belgium. 332 alerts relating to terrorism and extremism were processed by OCAM, compared with 236 in 2022, marking a 41% increase.
The body says this increase can be partly attributed to the escalation of the conflict in Gaza as well as the terror attack on Swedish football fans in Brussels on 16 October 2023. In October and November, the number of reports increased dramatically.
Update: This article was updated to include information released by the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office on Monday afternoon.
