Belgians Flood Twitter With Cat Pics During Terror Raids In Brussels

Tweeters have been responding to the alarming anti-terror raids in Belgium by flooding social media with cat pictures.

Belgian police asked for help from residents to not reveal details about their activities as Brussels effectively closed down after intelligence warned of an attack in the city.

The hashtag #BrusselsLockdown quickly began to trend and it was soon swamped with cute and humorous tweets as part of an apparent attempt to make it more difficult for suspects to find information to help them to avoid capture.

Tweets included pictures of “suspect” cats being arrested by police, armed sniper cats and cats disobeying police advice to stay away from windows.

High alert: Brussels was in lockdown over fears of an imminent terror attack (Rex)

Others referenced Star Wars and Shrek as the hashtag built up a huge momentum.

Many people praised the city for maintaining a sense of humour even after the terror threat level for Brussels was raised to its maximum level and the underground network, schools and universities were closed amid warnings of a “serious and imminent” threat.

Federal prosecutor Eric Van Der Sypt said police “want to thank the press and social media users because they took the need of this operation into account”.

Belgium’s crisis centre tweeted: "Thanks to the media and citizens for their silence online as asked during the juridicial intervention tonight.”

Here’s a selection of the best from the #BrusselsLockdown hashtag: