Brussels Says to Deploy 45 Soldiers to Metro, Train Stations

(MENAFN) Belgium will station military personnel alongside police at major transit hubs across Brussels starting Friday, authorities announced Tuesday, in a significant escalation of security measures targeting surging drug trafficking and urban criminality.

A total of 45 soldiers will conduct joint patrols with local police across multiple transportation hubs in the capital, the Interior and Defense Ministries confirmed to news portal Bruzz. The specific stations earmarked for deployment were not disclosed.

Beyond the permanent patrol units, an additional 10 military personnel will be held on standby for large-scale coordinated operations involving both local and federal police — modeled on a major anti-drug crackdown conducted last September.

The deployment forms part of a wider, sustained push by Belgian authorities to wrestle back control of urban transit infrastructure from criminal networks, and to reassure a commuting public increasingly unsettled by deteriorating security conditions in the capital.

The move also follows the earlier rollout this year of static military security posts at Jewish community sites in Antwerp, Liège, and Brussels — underscoring a pattern of expanding military involvement in domestic public safety across Belgium's major cities.

Authorities framed Tuesday's announcement as a reinforcement of police capacity rather than an emergency response, emphasizing the military's supporting role alongside — rather than in place of — civilian law enforcement, as the capital contends with what officials describe as a persistently challenging security environment.

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