Police in Denmark make arrests over suspected terror plot
Police in Denmark have arrested 20 people in connection with suspected preparations for an Islamist terrorist attack.
They said several raids were made throughout the country on Wednesday and that suspects were arrested for trying to obtain explosives and firearms.
The raids were mounted on the suspicion that several people had been planning an attack, the Danish intelligence service said in a news conference with police.
“It is our assessment, that those people are driven by a militant, Islamist motive,” operational chief of the intelligence service, Flemming Drejer, said.
Some of those arrested would face preliminary questioning on Thursday on charges of terrorism, chief of police Jorgen Bergen Skov said.
“It’s important to underline, that we detained all those, we have been looking for,” Skov said. “We now have the situation under control.”
Copenhagen Police said on Twitter its officers were carrying out a “major action” with searches and arrests being made around the country.
Københavns Politi✔@KobenhavnPoliti
Politiet er i øjeblikket i gang med en større aktion. Der foretages ransagninger og anholdelser flere steder i landet. Flere politikredse er involveret i aktionen, som ledes af Københavns Politi. Intet yderligere for nu #politid
Denmark has not seen a militant attack since 2015 when two people were killed and six police officers were wounded. In that incident, a lone gunman shot and killed a man outside a culture centre hosting a debate on freedom of speech, and later killed a person outside a Jewish synagogue in central Copenhagen. The gunman was killed in a shoot-out with police.
This year, the Danish government-imposed temporary border controls at its border with Sweden following the bombing of the Danish Tax Agency in Copenhagen, which led to the arrest of three Swedish men.
