Amsterdam, Sept 7. (dpa/GNA) – Thirty-two people are to appear before a magistrate in the Netherlands, on suspicion of murder, officials said on Friday, three days after an attack by a heavily armed group in the eastern village of Overasselt.
The suspects were initially being charged as members of a criminal gang, according to the public prosecutor’s office.
At around 4 am (0200 GMT) on Tuesday morning, more than 30 masked individuals, some heavily armed, converged on a house in the village, where a bodyguard was subsequently murdered.
Two police officers sustained serious injuries. Police special units then spent hours hunting down the suspects. The village near Nijmegen and the border with Germany was cordoned off.
Police said 34 people were arrested, and numerous weapons seized, including Kalashnikov assault rifles. Two people were provisionally released following the attack, which caused shock among the Dutch public and drew condemnation by politicians.
According to media reports, the violence stems from a conflict between drug gangs over a cocaine shipment. The target of the attack is believed to be a 28-year-old man who lived in the house with his family. He had been sentenced to four years’ imprisonment earlier this year for drug offences, but was allowed to remain at liberty while awaiting appeal.
The house was also targeted in two previous attacks. Currently, by order of the authorities, no one is permitted to live there for a year.
The suspects are aged between 16 and 32, the prosecutor’s office said. Sixteen are from France, 11 are Dutch, two are Algerian, one is from Libya, one is from Ukraine and one is from Belgium.
They are also suspected of attempted murder in relation to the two injured police officers, or of aiding and abetting such an offence, as well as attempted unlawful detention.
GNA