CONTINENT OF FEAR
Europe on terror alert after Belgium & France attacks as ‘ISIS recruiters’ arrested in Italy & UK threat level ‘to rise’
FEARS of imminent terrorist attacks have gripped Europe as tensions flare across the continent amid Hamas' bloody war with Israel.
Last night, two men were killed near a football stadium in Brussels before cops shot dead a suspected ISIS gunman.
6
6
6
6
The sickening rampage in the Belgian capital came days after a teacher was stabbed to death in France by a knifeman who shouted "Allahu Akbar".
European leaders will today hold an emergency summit as fears mount that the war between Israel and Hamas could fuel inter-communal tensions across the continent.
Early on Tuesday, Italian authorities confirmed two alleged ISIS recruiters had been arrested, accused of inciting terror offences.
Prosectors said the two suspects, one Egyptian and one Italian, were active in propaganda activities, were trying to recruit potential affiliates online and were financing support initiatives for IS.
More world news
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said the alert level had already been raised.
Meanwhile in Turin yesterday, a knife-wielding man allegedly attacked a synagogue while shouting "Allahu Akbar".
The suspect was tasered by cops before being arrested in Via Madama Cristina, San Salvario.
Footage shows the man surrounded by a number of police officers outside the synagogue before he suddenly marches towards one of them while brandishing the knife, prompting the officers to take him down using a taser.
Most read in The Sun
The incidents in Italy came as terror cops in Brussels this morning shot dead an extremist accused of killing two men.
Feared ISIS fanatic Abdesalem Lassoued, 45, went on the run for hours following Monday night's horror rampage before police tracked him down to a cafe and gunned him down.
He disappeared into the night after two victims - both wearing Sweden football shirts - were killed moments before their team's Euro 2024 qualifier match against Belgium.
The terror threat level for the Brussels Capital Region was ramped up to level 4 - with officials telling locals to "avoid unnecessary movements".
Regions are placed under level four "when the threat is serious and very imminent".
Following the shocking attack last night, Met police have confirmed officers will swarm Wembley tonight ahead of England's Euro 2024 qualifier clash with Italy.
A spokesman said: "Given the events yesterday in Brussels, those attending the match can be reassured that they will see a highly visible policing presence.
"Officers are there to ensure the event passes off safely and provide reassurance to those attending."
It comes as a former member of Cobra and commander of British forces in Afghanistan warned it is "highly probable" the UK's terror threat level will be raised.
As it stands, the UK's level is pegged at "substantial" - the third highest on the five-tier scale.
It means the government believes a terror attack is likely.
Colonel Richard Kemp told that "given what's going on in Gaza is likely to get worse" he believes it is "highly probable" the threat level will be raised in the UK.
He added: "It doesn't take a great deal to incite the kind of violence that we've seen on the streets of Britain, for example, many times in the last few years, whether it be driving vehicles and people sticking knives into people or blowing them up."
Fears of a terror attack in the UK come after a teacher was brutally knifed to death in France on Friday after former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal called for a "Day of Jihad" amid the ongoing bloodshed in Israel.
The attacker is alleged to be a 20-year-old "ISIS terrorist" and Chechen refugee named Mohamed Mogouchkov.
His elder brother is serving time in prison for links to Islamist militant networks.
According to multiple reports, Mogouchkov shouted "Allahu Akhbar" before using two knives to stab Dominique Bernard, 57, to death and injure two others.
The suspect had been under recent surveillance by intelligence services for radicalisation.
ESCALATION FEARS
Meanwhile, in France, the Palace of Versailles has today been evacuated after a bomb threat.
Pictures show crowds of worried tourists standing outside the gates after they were ordered to leave the former royal residence built by King Louis XIV.
In neighbouring Germany, authorities are working to outlaw Hamas.
The Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz, Germany's domestic intelligence agency, said it is pushing through laws to ban support for the terrorist group as well as pro-Palestinian network Samidoun.
Thomas Haldenwang, the body's president, told Germany's Bundestag: "We are working with all available capacities to ensure the implementation of the measures as quickly as possible."
And in Geneva today, a school was evacuated as police swooped following reports a gunman had stormed the site.
But it turned out to be a false alarm and an investigation has been launched.
Fears of terror attacks in Europe come as Israel's war with Hamas appears on the brink of escalation.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard has warned Israel will face another shock wave if "atrocities" do not stop in Gaza.
The nation already threatened to take "pre-emptive action" against Israel in the "coming hours" as it warned a Gaza invasion will open the "gates of hell".
Today, deputy commander Fadavi said: "The resistance front's shocks against the Zionist regimes (Israel) will continue until this 'cancerous tumour' is eradicated from the world map.
"Another shock wave is on the way, if Israel does not end atrocities in Gaza."
Hamas fighters stormed over the border on October 7 and killed more than 1,400 people - most of them civilians.
Israel retaliated by blasting Gaza with non-stop airstrikes that have wiped out entire neighbourhoods and killed nearly 3,000 people - and the military are now preparing for a ground invasion.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Tehran has repeatedly warned that a ground assault on Gaza would be met with a response from other fronts.
6
6
Topics