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Anti-terror troops to remain in east Belgium for another month

Xinhua, January 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

Military personnel guarding certain sensitive ares in the eastern region of Belgium are to remain in place for at least a month, local media reported on Thursday.

Military personnel were deployed to protect locations in Liege, Huy and Verviers on Thursday as part of ongoing security measures following a series of raids last week on a suspected jihadist cell operating in the country.

One of the significant raids was in the town of Verviers, in which two men were killed in a shoot-out with police, and a significant amount of money and arms were recovered. A dozen raids were carried out across the country.

On Wednesday, one of the men arrested during the raid in Verviers, Marwan El Bali, had his period of detention extended by the judicial authorities.

On Thursday, 55 military personnel were deployed around Liege, Huy and Verviers to protect certain vulnerable targets, including courthouses, the Tihange nuclear power plant in Huy, and the the main courthouse in Liege, the Prince-Bishop's Palace.

The federal authorities will review the situation in a month.

The military will be working under the command of the police. "They are part of combat units, used to be deployed outside the Belgian borders," says Lieutenant Colonel Pierre Pirson, commanding officer of the 12th army division, as quoted in Le Soir.

"For them, this is a unique opportunity to demonstrate their skills on their national territory, and their motivation is all the greater," the officer was quoted as saying. Enditem