Brussels cancels New Year’s celebration amid terror threat
Officials are canceling the New Year’s Eve festivities in Brussels due to fears of a terror plot in the Belgian capital.
The move follows Tuesday’s arrest of two men in Brussels who are suspected of planning a terrorist attack.
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said the decision was made “given information we have received” about the plot, according to the BBC.
{mosads}“Together with the interior minister, we’ve decided to not have the celebrations on Thursday evening,” Brussels Mayor Yvan Mayeur told state broadcasting agency RTBF.
A fireworks display was scheduled in the Place de Brouckere, a high-profile public square in the heart of Brussels.
Authorities earlier this week seized military-style uniforms, computer hardware and Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) propaganda in a series of raids around the city, according to Agence France-Presse.
Investigators said the arrests were not linked with the deadly Nov. 13 attack on Paris carried out by ISIS, which French officials said was planned in Belgium.
Belgium has been on high alert since that attack. Elsewhere, Turkish officials on Tuesday arrested two men who are suspected of plotting a New Year’s attack in Ankara.
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