Belgian gov't to reorganize troops in fight against terrorism

The Belgian Federal Justice Department will reorganize, from Sept. 1, its troops to fight against terrorism, local media reported Tuesday.

The Security of State service of the Federal Justice Department will recruit 40 additional staff to focus "like never before" on the threats of extremists and terrorists, according to reports.

The Security of State, the only civil service of intelligence and security in the country, will be enriched by two new teams that will take care of radicalism and terrorism, according to the Belgian daily L'Echo.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel described the foiled gun attack last Friday in a Thalys train between Paris and Amsterdam as a "terrorist attack" on his Twitter account.

The shooter Ayoub El Khazzani "more than likely" bought his weapon in Belgium, the French press reported citing a source close to the investigation.

For his part, the Belgian Minister of Justice Koen Geens on Monday put forth four points of action to fight against arms trafficking in the country. He calls particularly for better collaboration in this field within the European Union.

The weapons were not of Belgian origin, Geens said, adding the matter is a problem for the entire Schengen area.

"More efficient" weapons control is required outside the Schengen zone as is uniform legislation on demilitarization of military weapons, he stated. Endit