Europe is on high alert: arrests continue
More than 20 people have been arrested in Belgium, France and Germany and Belgium has joined France in deploying troops alongside police. BBC presents the situation. Security has been tightened in several countries after last week's attacks in Paris left 17 people dead. In Belgium, five people were charged on Friday with "participating in the activities of a terrorist group" following a series of raids that began on Thursday evening and left two suspects dead. Guns, munitions and explosives, as well as police uniforms and a large amount of money, were all seized by police overnight. Eric Van Der Sypt, an official at the prosecutors' office, told AFP that: "The investigation... has shown that these people had the intention to kill several policemen in the street and at police commissariats [police stations]." Thirteen people were arrested in total but only five would be prosecuted, he said. Belgium would also seek the extradition of two suspects held in France. On Friday, the Belgian government also announced new measures to deal with terrorist suspects. Twelve suspects are being held by police in the Paris region over last week's attacks in the French capital that killed 17 people. Police in Germany have also arrested two men following raids on 11 properties on Friday, involving some 250 officers. One of the men was suspected of leading an extremist group of Turkish and Russian nationals.
