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Belgium to hire 1,000 more officers to combat radicalism

A police vehicle is parked at the Grand Place in downtown Brussels, Belgium as the city was placed on lockdown in November. PICTURE: Michael Probst/AP 
A police vehicle is parked at the Grand Place in downtown Brussels, Belgium as the city was placed on lockdown in November. PICTURE: Michael Probst/AP  A police vehicle is parked at the Grand Place in downtown Brussels, Belgium as the city was placed on lockdown in November. PICTURE: Michael Probst/AP 

The Belgian government has approved a plan to combat Islamic radicalism and extremist violence by hiring 1,000 new police officers over the next four years.

The plan, presented by interior minister Jan Jambon, calls for 300 new officers this year, and more than 500 by 2017.

Mr Jambon said 300 new officers will be added in Molenbeek and other neighbourhoods with a history of radical Islam. Ninety-six police investigators will also be hired, and 260 TV cameras will be positioned to monitor movements on the roads.

The November attacks that killed 130 people in Paris were staged from neighbouring Belgium, and an official investigation revealed how ineffective the surveillance of suspected radicals in the country has often been.

Four of the Paris attackers, including suspected ringleader Abdelhamid Abaooud, lived in the Brussels area of Molenbeek, one of eight areas covered by the government's initiative.