Dutch police arrest "major terrorist attack"


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Map of the Netherlands with Arnhem and Weert

In the Netherlands, police have arrested seven men for alleged conspiracy to carry out what they describe as a major terrorist attack involving firearms and explosives.

Police said the men were trying to get AK47s, hand grenades and bombing equipment to carry out their attack.

The men, aged 21 to 34, were arrested on Thursday.

Three of them had already been arrested for trying to travel abroad to join foreign activists.

Prosecutors say the man at the center of the group is a 34-year-old man of Iraqi descent, who was sentenced in 2017 for attempting to travel to fight for the state group Islamic.

They say they were informed of the plot in April 2018 by the intelligence services, who said the main suspect wanted to target "a big event in the Netherlands where there would be many casualties".

The seven men were arrested Thursday afternoon in Arnhem (downtown) and in the southern municipality of Weert by anti-terrorist teams of the country's Special Intervention Service (ISD).

Prosecutors believe that the suspects wanted to conduct twin attacks involving a bomb and firearm attack during an event and that a car bomb exploded elsewhere.

"The suspects were looking for AK47s, pistols, hand grenades, explosive vests and raw materials for many [car] bombs, "prosecutors said in a statement.

Prosecutors say they would seek training on firearms and were arrested with five small handguns.

The National Counter Terrorism and Security Coordinator (NCTV) told local media that the arrests reflected the "realistic" risk of attacks in the country.

The level of threat in the Netherlands is currently set at four out of a maximum of five.

Earlier this month, a jihadist was shot dead after stabbing two American tourists in Amsterdam.

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