Explosives found Dutch "jihad couple" home; planned Brussels attack

In The Hague, a couple has been arrested after authorities discovered explosives in their home. According to the Ministry of Justice, these explosives were destined for plans to attack a European Commission building in Belgium, the AD writes on the basis of sources. The fear is now that they may have trained other potential terrorists to construct bombs. 

According to the AD, 33-year-old Adil U. and 28-year-old Zeyneb K. were arrested in August on the Zaventern airport in Brussels after returning, officially, from Turkey. The suspicion at the time was that they probably came from Syria.

Justice from Belgium and The Netherlands executed a collaborative action to investigate five homes in The Hague and Brussels. In Belgium, police seized fire arms and bulletproof vests and explosive materials presumably designated for the attack on the office building of the European Commission.

According to the AD, it has become even more clear after the arrest of these suspects that the network of jihadists in The Netherlands and Belgium has very close ties, and that country borders are largely ignored, making jihadists difficult to keep track of by intelligence services.

Ministers from eight European countries have made agreements this summer to prevent more attacks, and to keep a more vigilant eye on those people returned from Syria.