Belgium detains 7 on suspicion of planning terrorist attack

BRUSSELS

Authorities in Belgium have detained seven people on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack, the federal prosecutor's office said Thursday.

The prosecutor's office said in a statement that the detentions took place after searches were made in the cities of Roeselare, Menen, Ostend, Wevelgem and Ghent in the Flemish region.

According to the statement, those detained were related to a group affiliated with the Daesh/ISIS terrorist organization. Four of them were Chechens and three were Belgians, it added.

Belgium's Coordinating Body for Threat Analysis (OCAM) reported that the terror risk was at a moderate level after the development.