14/12/23
Four arrests as Denmark foils alleged attack plot
Danish authorities say they have foiled a planned major attack.
Three people were arrested in Denmark and one in the Netherlands during dawn raids on Thursday, police said at a press conference.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the threat was "as serious as it gets".
Authorities did not immediately disclose details of the alleged plot they say they prevented, saying the investigation was ongoing.
The three people arrested in Denmark would be charged with terror offences, Ch Insp Flemming Drejer told reporters.
Dutch media reported that the person arrested in the Netherlands was a 57-year-old from Rotterdam.
Ch Insp Drejer said an investigation had uncovered a transnational network of people preparing an attack, with links to criminal gangs.
Security around Jewish sites would be reinforced and police patrols in Copenhagen made more frequent, he added.
Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard said the alleged plot "tragically confirms that Danish Jews are under threat", without confirming that the suspects were planning to attack the Jewish community.
Former Copenhagen Police Deputy Inspector Jens Moller told TV2 that Thursday morning's raids would have been co-ordinated down to the minute.
"They must take place simultaneously within a minute of each other - preferably 10-15 seconds," he said.
Danish intelligence chief Anja Dalgaard-Nielsen said the threat against Denmark was linked to the Israel-Gaza war and burnings of the Quran in Denmark and neighbouring Sweden.
Earlier this month, EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson warned that Europe faced a "huge risk" of terrorist attacks over the Christmas period.
In 2015, two people were killed during an attack on a cultural centre and a synagogue in Copenhagen.
The PET security and intelligence service said this week that the "main terrorist threat to Denmark" was posed by militant Islamists, by a small group or a lone actor inspired by propaganda.
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