2015 Verviers police raid

{{Infobox civilian attack

| title = 2015 Verviers police raid

| partof = Islamic terrorism in Europe

| image =

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption = Aftermath of raid in Verviers

| map = Province de Liège in Belgium.svg

| map_size = 250px

| map_caption = Location of the province of Liège within Belgium

| location = Verviers, Liège, Belgium

| target =

| coordinates = {{Coord|50.589818|5.862967|region:BE-WLG_type:event|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

| date = 15 January 2015

| time =

| timezone =

| type = Police raid

| fatalities = 2 suspects

| injuries = 1 suspect

| victims =

| perpetrators =

| weapons =

}}

On 15 January 2015, Belgian police carried out a raid on premises in Verviers, Belgium. According to news sources, the raids were an anti-terrorist operation against Islamist radicals.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-30840160|title=Belgian anti-terror raid in Verviers 'leaves two dead'|publisher=BBC News|date=15 January 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/belgian-counterterrorism-raid-in-verviers-leaves-2-dead-report-says-1.2902052|title=Belgian counterterrorism raid in Verviers leaves 2 dead, report says|publisher=CBC News|date=15 January 2015}}

Operations

Two suspects died in the raids, which involved heavy gunfire, with a third being seriously wounded.{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/belgium/11349110/Casualties-in-Belgium-police-anti-terror-raid-in-Verviers.html|title=Casualties in Belgium police anti-terror raid in Verviers|date=15 January 2015|author= Bruno Waterfield|publisher=The Daily Telegraph}}{{cite web|url=http://newsmonkey.be/article/29059|title=Politie schiet twee terreurverdachten dood in Verviers, verschillende invallen in ons land|work=newsmonkey|language=nl|date=15 January 2015|access-date=15 January 2015|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305195816/http://newsmonkey.be/article/29059|url-status=dead}}{{failed verification|reason=no mention of wounded|date=June 2017}}

Other operations were carried out in Brussels and the nearby municipalities of Schaerbeek, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Vilvoorde, and Zaventem.{{Cite web|url=http://www.lesoir.be/759121/article/actualite/belgique/2015-01-15/operations-anti-djihadistes-en-belgique-deux-morts-videos-et-direct|title=Opérations anti-djihadistes en Belgique: deux morts (vidéos et direct)|publisher=Le Soir|language=fr|date=15 January 2015}} An armed man was reported to have been arrested in Brussels.

The Belgian prosecutor's office stated that the raids were an operation against a jihadist terrorist cell,{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/16/world/europe/police-raid-belgium.html|title=At Least 2 Killed in Antiterror Raid by the Belgian Police|author=James Kanter|work=New York Times|date=15 January 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://www.lindependant.fr/2015/01/15/charliehebdo-tout-ce-qu-il-faut-savoir-aujourd-hui,1979529.php|title=Belgique: opération contre un groupe jihadiste prêt à commettre un attentat, deux morts|work=Lindependant.fr|language=fr|date=15 January 2015}} reportedly believed to have links to ISIS,{{cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/15/world/belgium-anti-terror-operation/|title=Report: Two killed in Belgian anti-terror operation|author=Mariano Castillo|date=15 January 2015|work=CNN}} on the verge of committing a terrorist attack.{{cite web|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/belgium-police-kill-two-that-authorities-claim-were-on-verge-of-terrorist-attack-1.2067475|title=Belgium police kill two that authorities claim were on verge of terrorist attack|work=Irish Times}}

Police are investigating the possibility of links to the Charlie Hebdo shooting in neighbouring France.{{cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/verviers-three-terrorists-killed-belgium-4985990|title=Verviers: Three terrorists killed in Belgium after police swoop on address following tip-off|author=Andy Lines|publisher=Daily Mirror|date=15 January 2015}} The men killed in the raid, Redouane Hagaoui and Tarik Jadaoun, were alleged by police to have been planning to attack sellers of the "survivors' issue" of Charlie Hebdo released following the attack in Paris.{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/belgium/11351958/Belgian-terrorist-cell-linked-to-targeting-of-news-agents-selling-Charlie-Hebdo.html|title=Belgian terrorist cell 'linked to targeting of news agents selling Charlie Hebdo' |publisher=Daily Telegraph|date=16 January 2015|author= Bruno Waterfield}}

Response

On 17 January 2015, the Belgian government began a deployment of troops throughout Belgium to defend potential terrorist targets, Operation Vigilant Guardian.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-30860064|title=Belgium deploys troops following anti-terror raids|date=17 January 2015 |publisher=BBC News}}{{cite journal|last1=Lasoen|first1=Kenneth|title=Indications and warning in Brussels. Brussels is not Delphi|journal=Journal of Strategic Studies|date=2017|volume=40|doi=10.1080/01402390.2017.1288111|s2cid=157685300}}

Verviers terror cell trial

A trial against 16 members of the terrorist cell dismantled in Verviers began in 2016. Nine of the defendants were still at large and tried in absentia, including two Belgian, five French, one Moroccan and one Dutch national, who were thought to be fighting for the ISIL in Syria, to be in hiding or to be deceased. Belgian police said the group was on the verge of a coordinated attack of killing police officers in public roads and in police stations, and police had found "Kalashnikov assault rifles, explosives, ammunition and communications equipment – along with police uniforms that could have been used for the plot" during the raids.{{Cite news|title=Trial of Verviers terror cell suspects opens in Brussels|url=http://www.france24.com/en/20160509-trial-verviers-terror-cell-suspects-opens-brussels|website=France 24|agency=AFP|date=9 May 2016}}7{{Cite news|title=Belgium puts Verviers terror cell suspects on trial|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36245504|work=BBC News|date=9 May 2016}}

The cell was found to have been led by Abdelhamid Abaaoud via telephone from Athens, who evaded capture in the Greek capital. A member of the Brussels ISIL terror cell, he later had a leading role in the November 2015 Paris attacks.{{cite news|last1=Morris|first1=Chris|title=Paris attacks 'ringleader' Abdelhamid Abaaoud evaded Athens police|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35044182|access-date=8 December 2015|publisher=BBC News|date=8 December 2015}}

In 2016, members of the cell were sentenced to between 8 and 16 years imprisonment.{{Cite news|title=Belgium convicts Verviers cell of forming terror organization|url=http://www.dw.com/en/belgium-convicts-verviers-cell-of-forming-terror-organization/a-19377978|website=Deutsche Welle|agency=AFP, Reuters|date=5 July 2016}}