COPENHAGEN: Danish authorities said on Thursday that they successfully thwarted a terrorist attack, resulting in three arrests in Denmark and a fourth in the Netherlands.
Details about the suspects and the potential target of the alleged plot were not disclosed by officials.
Flemming Drejer, head of operations at the PET intelligence service, stated at a news conference, “It was a group that was planning an act of terror.” He noted that there were connections to other countries and organized crime.
The PET, in collaboration with several police districts, conducted early morning raids across various parts of Denmark to apprehend the suspects. The PET categorized the threat level as critical, scoring it at four on their five-point threat scale.
While police increased their presence in Copenhagen, they assured the public that the capital remained “safe.”
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen commented on the situation, stating, “For several years we have noted that there are people who live in Denmark and who do not wish us well, who are against our democracy, our freedom, and who are against Danish society.”
The arrests come amid heightened tensions following protests and burnings of the Koran in Scandinavia, with Denmark adopting a law criminalizing the defilement of religious texts earlier this month. Denmark faced anti-Danish sentiment in the past, notably in 2006 after the publication of Prophet Mohammed cartoons and in 2015 when a gunman attacked a cultural center in Copenhagen.
Last year, a Danish court handed down a 16-year jail sentence to an ISIS sympathizer for planning a bomb attack, marking the most severe punishment under Denmark’s anti-terrorism laws. The defendant claimed innocence, stating the concealed substances at his home were intended for manufacturing fireworks.
