Belgian Police Make Arrests In Terror Probe

Belgian police have detained around 15 people in Brussels in connection with an investigation into an Iraq and Afghanistan war recruitment drive, after a separate raid in an unrelated terrorism probe.

In a statement, the prosecutor's office said police conducted raids at homes across the Belgian capital in a pre-dawn operation aimed at "dismantling a group with terrorist characteristics."

The arrests followed a three-year investigation into people connected with a Belgian Islamic center.

Foreign police services cooperated in the probe.

Earlier, Belgian authorities said 10 terrorist suspects had been arrested in Belgium, The Netherlands, and Germany as part of an investigation into a Chechnya-linked Islamist network plotting attacks in Belgium.

Europe has been on high alert for several weeks over heightened fears of terrorist attacks.

In Denmark, intelligence officials warned of new information "that foreign-based terrorist groups will try to send terrorists to Denmark to stage attacks" and urged police to be "extremely vigilant" ahead of Christmas.

compiled from agency reports