Belgian police receive threats on social media

Belgian police officers were the target of threats of a terrorist attack over the weekend, writes Het Laatste Nieuws. The police intercepted messages from terror group IS on social media channels such as Twitter, calling for the killing of Belgian officers and their families.

According to reports, the Twitter messages have been confirmed by the terrorist movement. The messages spread quickly among Flemish and Walloon police agents.

The Belgian Federal Police and the Interior, however, denied any knowledge of the recent threat, but did encourage officers to keep their profiles private and change their profile pictures to more anonymous ones.

The police in Antwerp also said it was not aware of the threat. "But given the events in Paris, it is important for every police agent to realise that they are always a potential target,” a spokesperson told the newspaper. “We do urge our officers to protect their data on the Internet.”

photo: Eoghan O Lionnain on Flickr