Army exercise causes panic in West Flemish town

An unannounced army exercise caused panic in the West Flemish town of Kuurne on Wednesday evening. The Belgian Army is holding exercises across West Flanders all week. However, not all municipal authorities had been notified that the Army planned to practice on their patch.
Foto Kurt bvba

A number of concerned locals called the police to report having seen armed men on the streets and having heard gunshots.

Kuurne’s Mayor Francis Benoit told journalists that "I would have like to have been informed. I something like this is happening in your town you like to know about it so you can reassure people. We received a lot of questions, amongst other things about the fact that that there were shots. It was 9:30pm at a lot of children were already in bed.”

“The police had also not been informed. They suddenly received calls about armed men roaming the streets”, Mr Benoit added.
 

A whole series of exercises

On Thursday Morning, King Filip visited another army exercise in near-by Wevelgem. There soldiers had the task of taking over the airport building.

However, mist meant that the troops were unable to land and the exercise was delayed. After visiting Wevelgem, the King moved on to Harebeke where and exercise with 500 soldiers is taking place on Thursday afternoon.

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