Weert considering extra security at city fair
After the arrest of seven suspected terrorists in Arnhem and Weert on Thursday, the mayor of Weert is discussing extra security measures around the fair in the city with the police. It is known that the arrested men are suspected of planning a terrorist attack at an event in the Netherlands, but which event is still unclear, RTL Nieuws reports.
A spokesperson for the Public Prosecutor told De Limburger that the fact that some of the arrests were made in Weert, is a coincidence. There are no indications that the fair in Weert, which starts on Friday, is the target of a possible attack.
The police are still investigating which event the suspects were targeting. "We can not yet be concrete about that. It is clear that they were looking for a big event", Wilbert Paulissen of the police said to RTL Nieuws.
The seven suspects were arrested by SWAT teams in Arnhem and Weert on Thursday afternoon. They were in an "advanced" stage of planning to commit a terrorist attack at a large event in the Netherlands, the police said. The plot involved detonating bombs at a big event, then attacking the site with AK-47 gunfire. Following that, a car bomb would be detonated.
According to the Telegraaf, one of the suspects is Wail el A. He was arrested in May last year for taking selfies with F-16 fighter jets at the military airbase in Volkel.