Paris, Belgium, Moscow and Italy cancel traditional festivities fearing attack
Paris, Belgium, Moscow and Italy cancel traditional festivities fearing attack
Six people were arrested on Thursday for questioning over an alleged New Year attack plot in Brussels that led to the cancellation of a fireworks display and other festivities.
A total of eight people are now being held in the case, including two men who have been formally charged with terrorism-related offences following their arrests earlier this week, the federal prosecutor’s office said.
The six new suspects were detained following seven police raids in and around the Belgian capital in which computer equipment, mobile phones and “airsoft material” were seized, it added. Airsoft is a type of airgun.
An investigating judge will decide later whether to keep the six in custody or release them, the prosecutor’s office added.
Belgian authorities on Wednesday cancelled the annual New Year’s Eve fireworks display and other events in the heart of Brussels after revealing an alleged jihadist plot to attack “emblematic sites” in the capital.
The city of 1.2 million people has been on high alert since France said several men involved in the deadly November 13 attacks in Paris had links to Brussels, which is home to the European Union and Nato headquarters.
The situation is no different in other parts of the world even as Paris, still reeling from the November 13 slaughter of 130 people, has also cancelled its fireworks display. But authorities agreed France’s biggest public gathering since the attacks can go ahead on the Champs Elysees avenue, with bolstered security.
“After what our city has lived through, we have to send a signal to the world,” mayor Anne Hidalgo told the weekly Journal du Dimanche.
In Turkey, the police has detained two ISIS suspects allegedly planning to stage attacks in Ankara which is expected to be packed on New Year’s Eve.
In Moscow, the police will, for the first time, shut down Red Square where tens of thousands of revellers traditionally gather. “It’s no secret that Moscow is one of the choice targets for terrorists,” Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin had said.
In Britain, there will be around 3,000 officers across London in an unprecedented anti-terror security effort. Fireworks were banned across Italy fearing that sudden loud bangs could cause crowds to panic. The number of police on duty in Italy has been increased by 30 per cent compared to last year.
In Madrid, thousands of people will flock to Puerta del Sol square, however, the police will not allow more than 25,000. Berliners will do better with about a million expected at the Brandenburg Gate for a free mega-street party.
However, in stark contrast, Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown is hoping to reclaim its mantle as host of the best beach parties in Africa after Ebola scared people away.
In New York, despite a pledge of tight security for Times Square, another million people are expected to turn out to see the ball descend.
