Belgian police evacuate shopping mall over reported bomb threat

Reports of a bomb threat have prompted an anti-terror operation at a shopping mall in the Belgian capital, Brussels, which is still reeling from deadly Daesh terror attacks in March.

On Tuesday, Belgian police issued a bomb alert after a man was reported to be acting suspiciously near the City 2 shopping center in Brussels at 0430 GMT, according to Belgian broadcaster RTL.

Upon receiving the report, a bomb disposal team was dispatched to the shopping mall, located in the heart of Brussels and known as one of the main retail hubs of the city.

Local media said one suspect had been taken into custody in connection with the incident. The prosecutors said the suspect had been wearing a fake explosive vest, and that no bomb has so far been found.

Prime Minister Charles Michel also held an emergency meeting with members of his security cabinet.

On Sunday, Belgian authorities charged three men with terror-related crimes following two days of anti-terror operations, in which 40 people were detained.

The anti-terror raids were carried out after Belgian media reported that Takfiri terrorists may launch attacks on a football fan zone in Brussels, where the country’s games in the Euro 2016 tournament in France are being screened.

The country has been on high alert after two bomb attacks, claimed by the Daesh terror group, hit the Brussels airport and on the city’s metro on March 22, leaving 32 people dead and hundreds more injured.

Earlier this month, Belgian security and France and Belgium are facing a fresh wave of “imminent” terrorist attacks by the Daesh Takfiri terrorists returning from the conflict zones in the Middle East

In mid-June reports, Belgian security and intelligence sources said France and Belgium are facing a fresh wave of “imminent” terrorist attacks by the Daesh Takfiri terrorists returning from the conflict zones in the Middle East.

The French capital, Paris, also witnessed a similar Daesh terror attack last November, in which 130 people were killed in a spate of shootings and bombings across the city.

Probes later revealed that the perpetrators of the Paris attacks were mostly Belgium-based. On March 18, the main suspect in was arrested in Brussels.

In February, the European Union’s criminal intelligence agency Europol said up to 5,000 trained members of Daesh were at large in Europe.

Some 30,000 militants from over 100 countries have reportedly traveled to Syria and Iraq since 2011 to join the ranks of Takfiri terrorist groups.

The UN says Belgium, which home to the headquarters of major EU bodies, has been the source of more Daesh recruits per capita than any other European State.

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