Dutch police foil concert terror attack after tip-off from Spanish police

A 22-year-old man was arrested Thursday morning by Dutch police in connection with a suspected terror attack in Rotterdam, where the California rock band Allah-Las was scheduled to play a concert Wednesday night. The Dutch authorities were reportedly warned in a tip-off from Spanish police — though there is said to be no link to the attacks in Barcelona last Thursday.

The arrest came in the southern Dutch province of Brabant at 2 a.m. Thursday morning, just hours after the concert in the Maassilo center in Rotterdam was cancelled. The suspect is being questioned by anti-terror police about his involvement in the alleged plot.

Armed police were sent to the concert venue Wednesday evening to evacuate all those inside – before the band took to the stage.

The police have not commented on the nature of the possible attack, but the band has previously said they have received messages from Muslims offended by the use of Allah — Arabic for god — in the band’s name.

“We get emails from Muslims here in the U.S. and around the world saying they’re offended, but that absolutely wasn’t our intention,” lead singer Miles Michaud told the Guardian in 2016.

In recent years Islamic terrorists have targeted concert venues, including an assault on the Bataclan theatre in Paris in 2015 and the Manchester Arena attack in May this year.

In a statement to Billboard Wednesday, the band said: “The band is unharmed and are very grateful to the Rotterdam Police and other responsible agencies for detecting the potential threat before anyone was hurt. We are unable to comment any further at this time.”

Earlier Wednesday, police arrested a man driving a white van with Spanish number plates and filled with gas canisters near the concert venue. Initial reports linked his arrest to the possible attack, but police later said the man was arrested for being drunk, and had no involvement in the terror threat.

Europe has been on heightened alert since last Thursday, when an Islamic terror cell carried out several attacks, including one that left 13 people dead when a van was driven at speed down La Ramblas in Barcelona.