Dutch police arrest seven men suspected of plotting major attack

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Seven men were arrested Thursday in the Netherlands on suspicion of plotting a large-scale extremist attack Dutch prosecutors said they think was foiled following a months-long investigation.

The national prosecutor's office said in a statement heavily armed police arrested the men in the towns of Arnhem, about 60 miles south of Amsterdam and Weert in the southern Netherlands close to the borders of Germany and Belgium.

The investigation was launched by intelligence suggesting the alleged ring leader, a 34-year-old man of Iraqi heritage, wanted to carry out an attack at the site of a large event and cause multiple casualties, according to the statement.

The suspects allegedly wanted to use bomb vests and assault rifles to do harm at the event, and planned to detonate a car bomb at another location, prosecutors said. An investigation of potential targets is continuing.

Prosecutors said the suspects ranged in age from 21 to 34. Three of them, including the 34-year-old Iraqi, were previously convicted of attempting to travel overseas to join extremist networks.

The men were attempting to obtain AK47 assault rifles, handguns, bomb vests, grenades and raw materials for bombs and were looking for opportunities to train with such weapons, according to the statement.

Prosecutors said the investigation sped up this month because of the suspects' "advanced preparations."

The men are to be brought before an investigating judge on today at a behind-closed-doors hearing.

The Dutch anti-terror coordinator's office said in a tweet the alleged plot fit the current threat profile for the Netherlands, which is at four on a scale topping out at five.

The office did not raise the level following the arrests.

"Jihad networks are also active in the Netherlands with the intention to plot attacks in Europe," the office said. "Today's arrests must be seen in that light."