The news that 3 suspects had been apprehended as part of an investigation into a jihadi terror plot to kill leading politician has been reported on by various international media outlets. International news outlets such as the French press agency AFP, the US press agency Bloomberg and the Turkish press agency Anadolu have all reported on Thursday’s anti-terrorism operation in Antwerp.
The news that a possible attack against the Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever had been thwarted is front page news in the British newspaper ‘The Guardian’. The British news channel Sky News, the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle and Australia’s ABC News have all reported on the terror plot. The Times of Israel too, dedicate column inches to Thursday’s arrests.
Many of the newspaper reports refer to the terrorist attacks that took place in Belgium almost a decade ago. On 22 March 2016, there bombs exploded: two at Brussels Airport at Zaventem (Flemish Brabant) and one at the Maalbeek metro station in Brussels. Thirty-two people died and hundreds more were injured in the attack.
The British press agency Reuters also recalls the attack in October 2023 in which two Swedish football supporters were shot dead in Brussels. “Belgium has been hit by several attacks over the past decade by individuals linked to the terrorist group IS, and by increasing insecurity caused by rival drug gangs”, the press agency writes.