EU HQ said to be among possible targets of Belgium jihadists

(AFP) The European Commission was among possible targets for jihadist fighters returning from Syria, reports said Saturday, as the Belgian authorities cracked down in an effort to thwart extremist attacks.

Dutch public broadcaster NOS said at least two people among those arrested in the Belgian operations came from the The Hague.

“They were planning an attack. One of the targets was the European Commission building” in Brussels, known as the Berlaymont building, NOS reported, citing unnamed sources.

“Individual commissioners were not particularly targeted. It would be more like the Jewish museum attack… with the aim to kill as many people as possible,” it added.

The suspect in the attack on the Jewish museum in central Brussels in May, which left four people dead, is Frenchman Mehdi Nemmouche who spent more than a year fighting with Islamist extremists from the Islamic State in Syria and is now being held in Belgium on charges of “murder in a terrorist context”.

More...