Dutch police believe a “criminal network” was responsible for a wave of organised fireworks attacks on police officers, firefighters, and paramedics during New Year’s Eve unrest across the Netherlands and other Western European countries—mostly initiated by immigrants.
National police chief Janny Knol said attackers in Amsterdam-Noord’s Floradorp district used fireworks fired from a device resembling a machine gun with materials specifically purchased for the operation. Although no arrests have yet been made in that case, Knol said investigators are building a broader case to identify not only those involved in the violence but also organisers working behind the scenes.
Similar tactics were reported elsewhere. In Utrecht, a police unit was ambushed after its vehicle was blocked near a school, with around 30 to 40 youths waiting to hurl fireworks. Fires were deliberately set, and firefighters responding to the blazes were also attacked.
Police made around 250 arrests nationwide during what officers described as an unusually violent New Year’s Eve. At least two people were killed and many others, including children, were seriously injured in fireworks-related incidents, in the final year before a near-total ban on consumer firework purchases comes into force.
Hungary’s Chief Security Advisor György Bakondi has predicted that the European Union migration pact will worsen public safety in future, with similar emergencies arising from redistributing illegal migrants to countries where they are currently not present.
