The Dutch police arrested seven people on Friday suspected of planning terrorist attacks, officials said, as police sealed off government buildings in The Hague and carried out several raids in the city.
The suspects, six men and a woman, were arrested in The Hague, Amsterdam and nearby Almere, the national prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
The main suspect, according to the authorities, is 19-year-old Samir Azzouz, who in April this year was acquitted of charges of planning terrorist attacks because of insufficient evidence. The prosecution has appealed the ruling.
”Information of the AIVD intelligence service showed that [Azzouz] was trying to get automatic firearms and explosives. He is suspected of preparing attacks, together with other persons, on several politicians and government buildings,” the national prosecutor’s office said.
In The Hague, the government buildings were sealed off by police but the regular Friday-afternoon meeting of the Cabinet was going ahead as planned with the ministers present.
Dutch national public Radio 1 said the police had also sealed off a school and a road in a central area of The Hague.
The station said witnesses reported hearing shots on the road, which was not identified.
The suspects, including Azzouz, are to appear in court on Monday in Rotterdam for a procedural hearing to see if they can be remanded in custody.
The national prosecutor’s office declined to identify the other suspects other than to give their age as between 18 and 30 years old. — AFP
