BRUSSELS, Belgium – The capital, ended a four-day virtual lockdown Wednesday, but many residents remain anxious due to the continued maximum alert over the risk of jihadist attacks.
Hundreds of armed police and soldiers clutching automatic rifles stood guard throughout Brussels as schools, universities, shops and the underground train system reopened for the first time since going into lockdown Friday.
Many of the capital’s one million-plus residents were surprised when Prime Minister Charles Michel decided to restore life to as normal as possible despite keeping the alert level at the maximum four.
“I am against the opening of schools as long as the level is still at four,” Karol, a father of two young students at the French school Lycée Jean Monnet told Rudaw.
Karol and his wife Candice said that since the threat level has remained the same it made no sense to send children back to school. Level four means there is a serious and imminent threat of jihadist attacks following the Islamic State-claimed massacre in Paris that killed 130 people on November 13.
French investigators say the terror plot was prepared in Brussels and involved people living here in addition to French jihadists.
"We talk all the time about the attacks in Paris and the imminent attacks here in Brussels and last night my kids could not sleep,” Karol said. "They are so stressed out so I bought them cell phones so that they can call us when they feel the need to do so.”
Candice said she was nonetheless pleased with the measures the French school took.
The school, in collaboration with the Belgian government and the French embassy, implemented reinforced security measures immediately after the Paris attack, long before the Belgian schools followed suite.
Karol said the safety drills the schools have conducted make sense.
“Training them for an intrusion or an attack may make them gain two or three seconds and these few seconds may save their lives in certain situations,” he said.
After the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and January’s Kosher supermarket attack in Paris, Karol and Candice enrolled their kids in Krav Maga Israeli self-defense classes.
Helene, a French mother of two - one at the French school and another at university here in Brussels - complained about a lack of communication.
"The problem here in Brussels is that we do not get enough information. Why is the level still at four?” Helene said.
She added that her eight-year-old son is anxious, but the presence of military units at the entrance of the school reassures him.
"Even with the military presence everywhere I do not go to commercial centers, and I avoid certain places,“ she said.
During an interview with a Belgian radio station, Education Minister Joëlle Milquet said 300 extra police units were allocated for all the Brussels school zones.\
“We did the maximum (in terms of security measures) but we cannot say categorically ‘yes’ the kids are safe,” Milquet said. "We are in a world where zero risk does not exist.”
Among the security measures established at schools are “safe rooms,” but the leak of this confidential information to the media caused uproar.
Milquet was forced to explain that schools around the world have the concept of “safe rooms” that allow pupils to flee exposed classrooms to hide in secret rooms.
The Belgian Prime Minister, Charles Michel, decided to keep the level at four until Monday, when the threat will be reviewed.
The government also decided to spend 400 million euros of the 2016 budget mainly on providing security services with more recruits and new equipment while announcing tougher measures against Belgians who return from fighting with ISIS.
“For the Jihadists who return from Syria, their place is in prison,” Michel said.
The police will also be allowed to carry out raids at night, which until now have been banned from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. They will also be authorized to put ankle bracelets on radicals and extend detention for terror suspects from the current 24 hours to 72 hours.
Defense Minister Steven Vandeput said the government had already spent around nine million euros to deploy soldiers and boost security until October, following a police raid on a jihadist cell in the eastern town of Verviers in January.
The extra deployment from this month until December 20 will cost the government another nine million euros.
The underground train service resumed Wednesday with two out of the four metro lines operating in Brussels. Soldiers in camouflage guarded the entrances and platforms.
The rail service’s staff also closely monitored the 35 stations working, out of the 69 total.
All trams and buses resumed full service.
Charlotte, a 19-old university student, said: “I do not understand why they opened the metro even though the level is still at four.”
Soldiers and police backed by three armored vehicles guarded the entrance of the main shopping avenue, “Toison d’Or,” which is full of high-end clothes shops, like Tiffany’s, Armani, Salvatore Ferragamo and others.
Fatiha, an employee at Zara, said, “We have to continue living. We cannot stay shut otherwise we would let these people win.”
She noted the unusual calm in the store compared to the usual flow of people on Wednesdays.
“The number of clients is one third of the usual number of people,” she said.
Hanan, a Belgian mother of Tunisian origin who was shopping with her two young kids, was defiant despite her concerns.
“We should not fall into their game and stay home,” she said of jihadist attackers. “We preach life and they preach death. We cannot let them control our lives.”
Hundreds of armed police and soldiers clutching automatic rifles stood guard throughout Brussels as schools, universities, shops and the underground train system reopened for the first time since going into lockdown Friday.
Many of the capital’s one million-plus residents were surprised when Prime Minister Charles Michel decided to restore life to as normal as possible despite keeping the alert level at the maximum four.
“I am against the opening of schools as long as the level is still at four,” Karol, a father of two young students at the French school Lycée Jean Monnet told Rudaw.
Karol and his wife Candice said that since the threat level has remained the same it made no sense to send children back to school. Level four means there is a serious and imminent threat of jihadist attacks following the Islamic State-claimed massacre in Paris that killed 130 people on November 13.
French investigators say the terror plot was prepared in Brussels and involved people living here in addition to French jihadists.
"We talk all the time about the attacks in Paris and the imminent attacks here in Brussels and last night my kids could not sleep,” Karol said. "They are so stressed out so I bought them cell phones so that they can call us when they feel the need to do so.”
Candice said she was nonetheless pleased with the measures the French school took.
The school, in collaboration with the Belgian government and the French embassy, implemented reinforced security measures immediately after the Paris attack, long before the Belgian schools followed suite.
Karol said the safety drills the schools have conducted make sense.
“Training them for an intrusion or an attack may make them gain two or three seconds and these few seconds may save their lives in certain situations,” he said.
After the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and January’s Kosher supermarket attack in Paris, Karol and Candice enrolled their kids in Krav Maga Israeli self-defense classes.
Helene, a French mother of two - one at the French school and another at university here in Brussels - complained about a lack of communication.
"The problem here in Brussels is that we do not get enough information. Why is the level still at four?” Helene said.
She added that her eight-year-old son is anxious, but the presence of military units at the entrance of the school reassures him.
"Even with the military presence everywhere I do not go to commercial centers, and I avoid certain places,“ she said.
During an interview with a Belgian radio station, Education Minister Joëlle Milquet said 300 extra police units were allocated for all the Brussels school zones.\
“We did the maximum (in terms of security measures) but we cannot say categorically ‘yes’ the kids are safe,” Milquet said. "We are in a world where zero risk does not exist.”
Among the security measures established at schools are “safe rooms,” but the leak of this confidential information to the media caused uproar.
Milquet was forced to explain that schools around the world have the concept of “safe rooms” that allow pupils to flee exposed classrooms to hide in secret rooms.
The Belgian Prime Minister, Charles Michel, decided to keep the level at four until Monday, when the threat will be reviewed.
The government also decided to spend 400 million euros of the 2016 budget mainly on providing security services with more recruits and new equipment while announcing tougher measures against Belgians who return from fighting with ISIS.
“For the Jihadists who return from Syria, their place is in prison,” Michel said.
The police will also be allowed to carry out raids at night, which until now have been banned from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. They will also be authorized to put ankle bracelets on radicals and extend detention for terror suspects from the current 24 hours to 72 hours.
Defense Minister Steven Vandeput said the government had already spent around nine million euros to deploy soldiers and boost security until October, following a police raid on a jihadist cell in the eastern town of Verviers in January.
The extra deployment from this month until December 20 will cost the government another nine million euros.
The underground train service resumed Wednesday with two out of the four metro lines operating in Brussels. Soldiers in camouflage guarded the entrances and platforms.
The rail service’s staff also closely monitored the 35 stations working, out of the 69 total.
All trams and buses resumed full service.
Charlotte, a 19-old university student, said: “I do not understand why they opened the metro even though the level is still at four.”
Soldiers and police backed by three armored vehicles guarded the entrance of the main shopping avenue, “Toison d’Or,” which is full of high-end clothes shops, like Tiffany’s, Armani, Salvatore Ferragamo and others.
Fatiha, an employee at Zara, said, “We have to continue living. We cannot stay shut otherwise we would let these people win.”
She noted the unusual calm in the store compared to the usual flow of people on Wednesdays.
“The number of clients is one third of the usual number of people,” she said.
Hanan, a Belgian mother of Tunisian origin who was shopping with her two young kids, was defiant despite her concerns.
“We should not fall into their game and stay home,” she said of jihadist attackers. “We preach life and they preach death. We cannot let them control our lives.”
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