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Belgium Warns of Possible Attacks by Militants Traveling From Syria, Report Says France Eases Rules for Police to Carry Guns While Off Duty
(about 7 hours later)
PARIS — The authorities in Belgium have warned security services that the Islamic State might be planning an imminent attack, with a group of extremists having departed Syria and divided into groups, headed for Belgium and France. PARIS — France eased its gun rules on Wednesday to allow off-duty police officers to carry their sidearms even if the nation is not in a state of emergency. The move was a response to an attack on Monday in which an Islamic State assailant fatally stabbed a policeman and his companion at their home while their child was there.
The warning was reported on Wednesday by the Belgian newspaper La Dernière Heure, which said the police and other security officials had received an alert saying that “combatants left Syria about a week and a half ago in order to reach Europe via Turkey and Greece, by boat, without passports.” The eased rules, welcomed by France’s police unions, came as the authorities in Belgium alerted police that more attacks appeared to be in advanced planning stages and could be imminent.
It added: “These people have separated into two groups, one heading for Belgium and the other for France, in order to commit attacks in groups of two.” A group of extremists have left Syria and divided into smaller groups headed for Belgium and France, the warning said.
Belgian officials tried to play down the report. The information was reported by a Belgian newspaper, La Dernière Heure, which said police had received an alert that “combatants left Syria about a week and a half ago in order to reach Europe via Turkey and Greece, by boat, without passports.”
The Coordinating Body for Threat Analysis, which reviews and evaluates intelligence and other terrorism-related information for Belgium, said in a statement that the information, leaked to the newspaper, “had not been contextualized, and in its current form has no direct impact on the current threat level.” Belgian counterterrorism officials tried to play down the significance of the warning.
The agency did not raise Belgium’s terrorist-threat level. Brussels, the capital, was virtually shut down in November, after attacks in and near Paris killed 130 people and the authorities warned of the possibility of an attack in Belgium. The Belgian Coordinating Body for Threat Analysis, which reviews and evaluates intelligence and other terrorism-related information, did not raise the country’s alert level, and said in a statement that the warning, leaked to the newspaper, “had not been contextualized and, in its current form, has no direct impact on the current threat level.”
Officials did not dispute the authenticity of the communiqué quoted by La Dernière Heure, which described the would-be assailants as armed and poised to attack. Brussels, the capital, was virtually shut down in November after attacks in and around Paris left 130 people dead and the authorities warning of the possibility of an imminent attack in Belgium.
Among the more than a dozen possible Belgian targets were embassies, restaurants, hospitals, hotels, concert halls and pedestrian streets, according to the communiqué. Officials did not dispute the authenticity of the new warning, which described the would-be assailants as armed and poised to strike.
When pressed about the information, Paul Van Tigchelt, the director of the threat-coordinating body, described it as “raw intelligence.” Among the possible targets in Belgium were embassies, restaurants, hospitals, hotels, concert halls and pedestrian streets, according to the warning.
However, with the Euro 2016 soccer tournament underway in France and drawing huge crowds to city centers and areas around the stadiums where games are played, the report from Belgium seemed consistent with assessments by security officials that France faces a persistent and serious risk. When pressed about the information, Paul Van Tigchelt, the director of the threat-coordinating body — known by its French initials, OCAM, as well as its Flemish initials, OCAD — described it as “raw intelligence.”
French officials did not respond specifically to the Belgian report. But Prime Minister Manuel Valls of France, speaking on France Inter radio Wednesday morning, made clear that the country must be prepared for more attacks. Raw intelligence generally refers to information that is largely unverified, may originate from a single source and has not yet been corroborated.
“Other innocent people will lose their lives,” he said. “You could accuse me of making society even more anxious than it already is, given all the events that have happened, but sadly, this is the reality.” However, with the Euro 2016 soccer tournament underway in France and drawing huge crowds to city centers and areas around stadiums, the report from Belgium was consistent with assessments by security officials that its neighbor faces a persistent and serious risk.
He was referring not only to the November attacks but also to the fatal stabbing on Monday of a police officer and his companion by an extremist who claimed loyalty to the Islamic State. There are already a number of Belgian and French citizens or residents who have fought for the Islamic State or other groups in Syria or Iraq and then returned home, as was the case with a number of people who took part in either the Paris or Brussels attacks.
In testimony before Belgium’s Parliament on Wednesday, Justice Minister Koen Geens said that as of June 7, 114 Belgian fighters had returned from the Syrian-Iraqi conflict zone and that seven of them had since died. The number of returnees in France is about 244, one of the top French intelligence officials, Patrick Calvar, told lawmakers last month.
French officials did not respond specifically to Belgium’s most recent warning of returning jihadists.
But Prime Minister Manuel Valls of France, speaking on France Inter radio Wednesday, made clear that the country must be prepared for more attacks.
“Other innocent people will lose their lives,” he said. “You could accuse me of making society even more anxious than it already is, given all the events that have happened. But sadly, this is the reality.”
He was referring not only to the November attacks, but also to the fatal stabbings in France on Monday by an extremist who asserted loyalty to the Islamic State.
“This is generational, we have hundreds of individuals who are radicalized,” Mr. Valls said.“This is generational, we have hundreds of individuals who are radicalized,” Mr. Valls said.
There was no change to the threat level in France on Wednesday. The country has maintained a state of emergency since the Nov. 13 attacks and considers the risk of attack very high. There was no change to the threat level in France on Wednesday. France has maintained a state of emergency since the Nov. 13 Paris attacks, and considers the risk of attack high.
However, French police officers were particularly on edge after stabbings on Monday of an off-duty officer and his companion, an Interior Ministry employee.
The country’s police unions met with Interior Ministry officials on Wednesday and emerged saying they had received indefinite permission to carry their work guns, even when off duty.
They are permitted to do so now under state-of-emergency provisions, but those will expire on July 26. Many police officers had worried that the expiration would make them more vulnerable.
The extended permission for off-duty carrying, given by Bernard Cazeneuve, the interior minister, is not permanent, but does not have an end date.
A far less nervous and combative mood prevailed in Magnanville, the small town west of Paris where the stabbings took place. About 200 people gathered at noon on Wednesday for a moment of silence at the end of the street where the policeman lived with his family.
They listened quietly to remarks from the town’s mayor and sang the national anthem, “La Marseillaise.” Only a few of the mourners complained that France had too many mosques, a not-uncommon sentiment expressed in parts of France in response to fears of Islamic extremists.
Men representing area Muslim groups came to pay their respects, standing a bit apart as if they were outsiders, although they were from neighboring towns.
One of them, Abdelaziz El Jaouhari, who is the secretary general for the Council of Muslims for the department of Yvelines, said France needed more proper mosques to help fight radicalism. A department is a local unit of government, similar to a county.
“We do not have enough official places of prayer for the community, and it is much better for young people to be in official places of worship rather than with those networks they find in basements and I don’t know where,” Mr. Jaouhari said.