 Danish police have arrested eight people with alleged links to al-Qaeda on suspicion of planning a bomb attack. The eight suspects arrested late on Monday in Copenhagen form part of a terror cell with links to a senior al-Qaeda figure, police said. | The suspects, aged between 19 and 29, were of Afghan, Pakistani, Somali and Turkish origin, police said. |
The suspects, aged between 19 and 29, were of Afghan, Pakistani, Somali and Turkish origin, police said. Denmark's contribution to the US-led military campaign in Iraq has prompted fears that terrorists may target it.
The country also drew anger from Muslims worldwide after a Danish newspaper last year printed cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
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Eleven addresses were raided in Copenhagen during the overnight police operation, police said. Buildings in the city's southern suburb of Ishoej and its Noerrebro district - both with large immigrant populations - were among those cordoned off by police. The suspects held on Monday had been under surveillance for some time, police said. Six of them are reportedly Danish citizens. "With the arrests, we have prevented a terror attack," Jakob Scharf, an official from the Danish police intelligence agency said. "They also have been producing an unstable explosive in a densely populated area," Mr Scharf said. He gave no details of what might have been the intended target of the alleged bombers.
Danish security services have conducted two major raids on suspected terrorists since 2005. In February, a court sentenced a Danish citizen of Palestinian origin for involvement in a plan to blow up a European target. Another three defendants in the trial were acquitted. One of them is awaiting a retrial. And four men arrested last year in the city of Odense are due to go on trial on Wednesday on suspicion of planning terror attacks. |