Belgian terrorists were just 'hours away' from attack

Belgian authorities have said they thwarted a major attack by just hours when they killed two suspects in a shoot-out and arrested a third in a huge anti-terror operation that stretched into the night.

The police raid on a former bakery in the city of Verviers was another palpable sign that terror had seeped deep into Europe’s heartland as security forces struck against returnees from Islamic holy war in Syria.