By Xinhua
Brussels : The police in the Netherlands have foiled a possible terror attack on New Year’s Eve in Rotterdam, Dutch paper De Telegraaf reported Thursday.
The paper said that special police forces arrested three suspected terrorists, who they believe were planning an attack on the crowds attending the New Year celebrations around the city’s Erasmus Bridge.
Quoting “well informed sources” involved in the investigation, the paper said the timely intervention averted a big disaster at the celebration site, where more than 15,000 people had gathered. Security would have been practically impossible, had there been any untoward incident, they said.
The three men in their 30s, two with dual Dutch and Moroccan nationality and one alleged to be an illegal immigrant from Sudan, are currently in police custody, the newspaper said.
The three suspects were arrested from three places in the city by special police forces just hours before the New Year celebrations began. They had been under surveillance for weeks by the Dutch intelligence services and the Rotterdam police.