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Two Suspects in a New Year's Eve Attack Plot Have Been Arrested in Belgium

Police found military clothing and Islamic State propaganda material but no weapons or explosives. Six people were taken in for questioning across Belgium, but four have since been released.
Imagen por Laurent Dubrule/EPA

Two people suspected of plotting an attack in Brussels on New Year's Eve were arrested in Belgium on Sunday and Monday, according to federal prosecutors.

Police found military clothing and Islamic State propaganda material but no weapons or explosives, prosecutors said on Tuesday. "Our investigation revealed serious threats of an attack on symbolic places in Brussels during the celebrations for New Year's Eve," they said in a statement.

A total of six people had been taken in for questioning during house searches in the Belgian capital of Brussels, a neighboring province, and the city of Liege, but four of them had since been released.

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Belgium has been at the heart of investigations into the Paris attacks on November 13 that left 130 people dead after links with Brussels emerged. Two of the Paris suicide bombers, Brahim Abdeslam and Bilal Hadfi, had been living in Belgium.

Belgian police have arrested nine people in connection with the Paris attacks. But the prosecutors said today's announcement was not linked to that investigation.