Man killed in shoot-out during Belgian raids targeting far right

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A man was killed in a shoot-out with police in Belgium on Wednesday during raids into far-right sympathisers suspected of planning an attack and illegally possessing arms.

Police carried out raids at around 10 addresses mostly in the northern port city of Antwerp, federal prosecutors said. At one, an exchange of fire resulted in the death of a man inside.

Investigators discovered a large number of firearms and ammunition, a spokesperson for federal prosecutors said, adding that the raids were linked to an investigation into preparations for a terrorist attack and illegal arms possession.

“Some of the people are suspected of being close to the extreme right,” the spokesperson said, declining to say how many people had been detained or to give further details about the attack planning.

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop, editing by Marine Strauss and Gareth Jones)