Belgium charges man with planned terror attack

One of two brothers arrested in Belgium in an anti-terror operation has been charged with attempting to commit “terrorist murder”.

Prosecutors said the 33-year-old man, named as Nourredine H, is also accused of being part of a terrorist group.

He and his brother, named as Hamza H, were arrested on Friday after searches in the Mons area and the city of Liege.

Hamza H was released on Saturday without charge. No weapons or explosives were found in the searches.

Prosecutors did not name the organisation Nourredine H is accused of working for.

Belgium has been on high alert since 32 people died in bombings at Brussels airport and a metro station in March.

Many more people were injured in the attacks, which were claimed by so-called Islamic State.

“Based on provisional results from the investigation, it appears that there were plans to carry out attacks in Belgium,” the federal prosecutor’s office said following the arrests.

But the statement added that as yet no link had been found to the Brussels bombings.

Security was boosted in the run-up to Belgium’s national holiday on 21 July, amid fears of something similar to the lorry attack in the French city of Nice on 14 July, Bastille Day.