Brussels: Belgium has raised the terrorist threat level to three on a scale of four following a series of raids on suspected jihadis on Thursday.
The Co-ordinating Body for Threat Analysis Belgium(OCAM), a government agency that monitors the threat level to the country, reassessed the level of vigilance in the country as a result of these actions, Xinhua reported.
The move comes after around a dozen raids were carried out in the capital of Brussels and the eastern town of Verviers Thursday in which two people were killed.
"As part of a record of the federal prosecution, specialised Belgian terrorism units have conducted a total of a dozen raids in the districts of Verviers, Brussels and Halle-Vilvoorde," Eric Van Der Sypt of the federal prosecutors office said.
Raids were carried out Thursday in Verviers, as well as the Brussels districts of Vilvoorde, Brussels City, Zaventem, Schaerbeek and Molenbeek-Saint-Jean.
An armed man was also arrested on the Brussels underground. According to media reports, witnesses said he was heard to shout "allahu akbar" at the time of his arrest. Another man was arrested at Zaventem Airport.
