Ten years ago, Belgian police dismantled part of a terrorist cell based in Verviers which planned to carry out attacks on Belgian soil. Several people were arrested, some were shot, and 16 were convicted of participating in the activities of a terrorist group. Back to this episode.
It was 10 years ago. THE January 15, 2015a week after the attacks perpetrated at the editorial office of Charlie Hebdo and in a Hyper Kosher in Paris, special units of the Belgian police carried out an assault on a home in the rue de la Colline. The action aimed to arrest people belonging to a terrorist cell in Verviers who planned to commit attacks on Belgian soil. The police had killed two suspected terrorists, Khalid Ben Larbi et Sofiane Amgharwho were returning from Syria, and had arrested another, Marouan El Baliafter exchanges of fire with these suspects.
In this file, 16 people were convicted at first instance, in 2016, for participation in the activities of a terrorist group as members or as leaders. Some of them were also convicted of having planned attacks in Belgium in January 2015. The Brussels criminal court had pronounced sentences of up to 16 years in prison. Marouan El Bali was sentenced to 12 years in prison on appeal in 2017.
From 2014 to 2016, an unprecedented wave of violence
“Ocam remembers the Verviers operation as a pivotal moment in the fight against terrorism in Belgium,” commented on Wednesday the spokesperson for the Coordination Body for the analysis of the threatens, Kevin Volon. The period in which this raid took place was preceded by a series of acts of extremist violence linked to global jihad.
The attack on the Jewish Museum in Brussels, the May 24, 2014inaugurated a bloody wave which continued with the attacks against Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher, in January 2015. At the same time, Abu Mohamed Al-Adnani, then spokesperson for the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, launched a repeated appeal to his sympathizers around the world, urging them to target the countries (including Belgium) of the Islamic State on their own soil. coalition internationale antidjihadiste led by the United States. This violence linked to ISIS continued to hit Europe, as in Paris in November 2015then to Brussels and Zaventem on 22 mars 2016.
“The police operation in Verviers highlighted the reality of the threat posed by IS,” underlines Kevin Volon. “The event revealed the presence of sleeper cells in Belgium and their links with international networks. » In the wake of the Verviers operation, security measures around sensitive infrastructure and law enforcement were notably reinforced. Regarding the general threat in Belgium, it had been raised to level 3 (severe) on January 16, 2015 to be reduced to level 2 (medium) on March 9, 2015, recalls the Ocam spokesperson.
Creation of the TER database
Another consequence of this event and the context of increased terrorist threat in Europe, the exchange of information on individuals present in the Syrian and Iraqi zone between partner services led to the creation, in 2015, of the joint database which succeeded to the Ocam lists. This has undergone numerous developments to become, in March 2024, the common database “Terrorism, Extremism, Radicalization process” (“TER”)notes Kevin Volon.
This common database is still used today and has been enriched with new categories to total five: “ foreign terrorist fighters“, either individuals who left – or who intended to do so – for a conflict zone with the aim of joining a terrorist group, or who return from there; THE ” homegrown terrorist fighters“, either people who intend to commit or support terrorist acts in Belgium; THE hate propagandists ; THE potentially violent extremists and the people convicted of terrorism. The objective is to include more profiles likely to pose a threat in terms of extremism or terrorism, explains the spokesperson. It currently lists 572 individuals subject to priority monitoring in Belgium.
“This episode (Editor’s note: January 15, 2015) reminds us of the extent to which vigilance and cooperation remain essential to preserve the security of our country,” concludes Kevin Volon.
