Several people were taken hostage in a cafe in the eastern Dutch town of Ede on March 30, a local official said, according to ANP.
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| Dutch police are investigating whether the incident is terrorism-related. (Source: News18) |
In a statement posted on social media X, police said several special police units had been deployed to the scene, a building in the town centre. According to the statement, 150 homes were evacuated and the public was asked to avoid the area.
After several hours of being held by the kidnappers, police said "three hostages have been released. However, the situation is not over yet." It is not clear how many people were held hostage, but local media reported that there were about four or five.
Local authorities said the entire town centre had been cordoned off, with riot police and explosives experts at the scene. Police are investigating the motive for the incident but said there was no indication it was linked to terrorism.
The Netherlands has seen a number of terrorist attacks and plots, but not on the scale of other European countries such as France or the UK. In 2019, the Netherlands was shocked by a shooting on a tram in the city of Utrecht that left four people dead.
A man of Turkish origin identified as Gokmen Tanis later admitted a terrorist motive for the riots that brought the Netherlands' fourth-largest city to a virtual standstill.
Also in 2019, Dutch police charged two suspected jihadists with planning a terrorist attack using suicide and car bombs. Authorities said an attack was planned that year.
In 2018, a young Afghan man identified as “Jawed S.” stabbed two American tourists at Amsterdam Central Station. He later told judges that he “wanted to defend the Prophet Mohammed.”
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