NETHERLANDS: GUNSHOTS HEARD DURING ANTI -TERROR OPERATION IN RESIDENTIAL AREA OF THE HAGUE

Record ID: 352143

  • Title: NETHERLANDS: GUNSHOTS HEARD DURING ANTI -TERROR OPERATION IN RESIDENTIAL AREA OF THE HAGUE
  • Date: 10th November 2004
  • Summary: (EU) THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS (NOVEMBER 10, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. SLV POLICE VANS 0.09 2. SLV POLICE OFFICERS 0.15 3. SLV MASKED POLICE OFFICERS WALKING BY CORDON 0.19 4. SLV POLICE OFFICERS ON THE ROOF OF A BUILDING 0.29 5. WIDE OF ONLOOKERS NEAR THE BUILDING 0.39 6. SLV FIREFIGHTERS NEAR TO THE SCENE 0.44 7. WID
  • Embargoed: 25th November 2004 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS
  • Country: Netherlands
  • Reuters ID: LVAC5WTAHHQ2B3PYG6HQFUK2N8SC
  • Story Text: Gunshots were heard at the site of an anti-terror
    operation where police had cordoned off a building believed
    to contain a number of suspects.




    Gunshots were heard at the site of an anti-terror
    operation in a residential area of The Hague on Wednesday
    (November 10) where police had cordoned off a building
    believed to contain an unknown number of suspects.

    The suspects earlier threw a hand grenade at police,
    injuring three officers, as violence in the Netherlands
    spreads following the killing of an outspoken filmmaker by
    a suspected Islamist extremist.

    The officers were trying to arrest the suspects when
    the grenade was thrown at them, chief justice official Han
    Moraal told a news conference, adding that shots had also
    been fired in the raid. It was unclear who fired the shots.

    Officials declined to say whether the ongoing operation
    in the Dutch seat of government was linked to last week's
    killing of filmmaker Theo Van Gogh that has sparked
    apparent tit-for-tat attacks on churches and mosques.

    Heavily-armed Dutch police circled the building, the
    area was cordoned off and the air space over the city was
    closed.

    An unspecified number of suspects were holed up in the
    building which is located in a poor neighbourhood of The
    Hague where almost half the population is immigrant.

    Photographs taken at the scene showed police leading
    away a man in his underwear but officials declined to say
    if they had made any arrests.

    A bystander estimated that there were almost 200 police
    on the scene, including officers in balaclava masks and
    carrying machine guns. Snipers were on roofs and police
    suspected there were explosives in the building, Dutch
    television said. A prosecution spokesman declined comment
    on the report.

    Rick Van Hetwout lives a 100 metres from the scene.

    "This morning we were all taken out of our houses as I
    walked out of my door, there were snipers lying outside my
    door. It was very frightening this morning," he told
    Reuters.

    Residents were stunned by the raid.

    "I live very close to the place it is very scary, my
    heart is beating very fast. It is really a frightening
    situation. I have no words for these kind of things," said
    a woman who also lives close to the area of the blast.

    The raid recalled a police operation in Madrid in April
    when seven suspects in the March train bombings blew
    themselves up after police cornered them in a suburban
    apartment. A policeman also died in that raid and 11 people
    were injured.

    Violence has spiralled in The Netherlands -- a country
    renowned for its tolerance and liberal views -- since Van
    Gogh, who enraged some Muslims with his blunt criticism of
    Islam, was killed as he cycled to work on Nov. 2.

    Police arrested 10 people in their investigation of the
    killing and are still holding six, including the prime
    suspect who is also charged with links to a group with
    terrorist plans.

    Prosecutors have said they are looking for other
    militant cells and possible links with international
    Islamist groups.

    More than 10 mosques and churches have been hit by
    arson attacks since Van Gogh was killed. On Tuesday night
    there was an arson attack on a Muslim school, where the
    words "Theo R.I.P." were scrawled on the walls along with a
    "White Power" sign.

    The district court in the northern Dutch town of
    Groningen was evacuated for two hours on Wednesday after a
    bomb threat, the Dutch ANP news agency said. The town is
    hosting a European Union meeting on immigration and
    integration policy.

    A little-known Islamist group threatened on Tuesday to
    hit the Netherlands if the attacks on Muslim buildings did
    not stop. The country has received several threats from
    Islamic militants over the presence of 1,300 of its troops
    in Iraq.


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