2023-05-05 11:30:00
As we told you about this Thursday, 7 people were deprived of their freedom in Flanders because they are suspected of having planned an attack in Belgium. What we know this Friday is that the main suspect was on the lists of Ocam (the coordinating body for threat analysis). On this list, there are dozens of names and information on potential terrorists or extremists present in Belgium.
This individual was followed and by following him, the intelligence and security service saw different names appear in this file. According to our information, they are quite young. The youngest is 21 and the oldest is 34. Some of them are already known to the courts for petty crime.
Regarding the planned attack, there were different targets envisaged as well as scenarios. What accelerated the file, it is when these individuals looked for weapons in a very active way. The fear of the police is that these weapons will be found and that the individuals will be able to act. Auditions are still ongoing. The investigating judge will see the 7 people parade before him this Friday evening from 6 p.m. He will then have to make the decision whether or not to place them under arrest warrant.
Investigators have also managed to identify this threat because they have more and more resources. The law has changed and it allows security services to integrate closed groups very actively on social networks. In these groups, there are a lot of names and information, which have finally allowed the police to intervene in various cases since the beginning of the year.
The Chechen threat has existed for a long time
Most of those arrested are of Chechen origin and, according to the federal prosecutor’s office, are staunch supporters of the Islamic State terrorist group. Like Belgium once was, Chechnya remains fertile ground for jihadists. “The Chechen threat has existed for a long time. It has been little mentioned in the media, but there have been Chechens who have gone to Syria. They have fought, it is not a new phenomenon”, explains Mohamed Fahmi, jihadism researcher at the ULB.
The Boston attack in 2013 or the assassination of Samuel Paty in 2020 were committed by Chechen terrorists. However, the level of the terrorist threat in Belgium has not been raised.
“There’s a constant threat out there. Sometimes it shows up but it’s always there. It’s a bit difficult at the moment to tell if it’s growing,” says Mohamed Fahmi.
A threat that emanates from the terrorist group Islamic State. Still active, it now focuses on certain parts of the world such as sub-Saharan Africa. “He managed to recruit a lot of people and he manages to dominate villages or small towns in this region of the world. The threat is greater elsewhere in the world, but it is always present, including in its historic home, in Syria and Iraq”concludes Mohamed Fahmi.
As the terrorist organization is decentralized, these cells operate autonomously. This makes it particularly difficult to neutralize it.
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