BREAKING NEWS: Six held in Belgium and one arrested in Paris as masked anti-terror police launch raids across Europe

• Six people have been detained in Brussels in connection with terror attacks
• Another person has been arrested in anti-terror raid in Paris suburb tonight
• Frenchman was held after officials foiled a terror plot in ‘advanced stages’

Seven people have been arrested in Belgium and Paris tonight after masked anti-terror police carried out a string of raids across Europe in connection with the Brussels massacres and a new terror plot.

Armed police swooped on properties in the Schaerbeek and Jette districts of Brussels and arrested a total of six people, who are thought to be connected to Tuesday’s airport and Metro bombings.

Gunfire, grenades and explosions were all reportedly heard as police conducted the raids tonight.

Meanwhile, a Frenchman was arrested during an anti-terror raid in the northern Paris suburb of Argenteuil over a planned terrorist attack which was in the ‘advanced stages’, officials said.

Seven people have been arrested in Belgium and Paris (pictured) tonight after masked anti-terror police carried out a string of raids across Europe in connection with the Brussels massacres and a new terror plot

Armed police swooped on properties in the Schaerbeek and Jette districts of Brussels and arrested a total of six people. They also arrested a Frenchman in a northern Paris suburb (pictured) over a planned terror attack

Police officers stand guard outside a building during a raid in the Argenteuil suburb of northwest Paris tonight

At least one Frenchman has been arrested in a string of anti-terror raids in the northern Paris suburb of Argenteuil (pictured) tonight after police foiled a terrorist attack in the ‘advanced stages’, it has emerged

French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the man detained could be part of a high level terror network that was planning to strike on French soil. They ‘planned to hit our country’, he said.

But Mr Cazeneuve said there was currently no ‘tangible’ link between the man arrested in Paris and Tuesday’s attacks in Brussels.

It is understood the man detained in Paris had been under police surveillance for ‘quite some time’.

‘The arrest is the result intricate work carried out over the last few weeks by intelligence services,’ said Mr Cazeneuve.

He confirmed the man arrested was of French nationality and was ‘involved in the plot at a high level’ and was ‘involved in a terrorist network that was ready to attack France.’

He said the arrest was the result of ‘close and constant cooperation between European services’.

Homes in the area have now been evacuated and several streets have been closed to traffic as the major police operation continues in darkness.

Bomb disposal units are also at the scene to allow police officers ‘to proceed with searching the apartment, the parking and the communal areas in optimal conditions,’ Mr Cazeneuve added.

A security cordon has been set up around the building.

French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the man detained in Paris could be part of a high level terror network that was planning to strike on French soil. Pictured: Masked anti-terror officers in the French capital

The arrest in Paris tonight was the result of ‘close and constant cooperation between European services’

Homes in the northern Paris suburb of Argenteuil (pictured) have been evacuated and several streets have been closed to traffic as the major police operation continues. Bomb disposal units are also at the scene

One Frenchman has been arrested in the northern Paris suburb of Argenteiul over a planned terrorist attack

It is understood more than 50 residents, including many children, are among those evacuated.

One resident told Le Parisien: ‘We saw many [police] arrive around 5.30pm. The police told us to stay at home without giving more explanation.

‘Agents are hooded. Given the context, people are afraid. My son once told me he did not want to go to school tomorrow.’

France has been on high alert since the November 13 attacks in Paris that killed 130 people and injured hundreds more. Mr Cazenueve said there had been 75 arrests since the beginning of the year and 28 suspects had been jailed.

The latest arrests come two days after suicide bombers hit Brussels airport and a metro train, killing at least 31 people and wounding some 270 in the worst such attack in Belgian history.

At least two men identified by police from surveillance footage at the airport and metro station where the attacks took place are still at large.

French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the man detained in the Paris suburb (above) could be part of a high level terror network that was planning to strike on French soil. They ‘planned to hit our country’, he said.

Bomb disposal units are also at the scene in the northern Paris suburb to allow police officers ‘to proceed with searching the apartment, the parking and the communal areas in optimal conditions,’ Mr Cazeneuve added

But police arrested a further six people in connection with the attacks this evening, with three people being detained ‘outside the door of the federal prosecutor’s office’ in Brussels city centre.

Federal prosecutor spokesman Eric Van der Sypt said two further people were arrested elsewhere in the city and the sixth was detained in Jette, on the outskirts of the capital.

‘It will be decided tomorrow if an arrest warrant are brought against these people,’ he added.

Raids have also taken place in the Brussels district of Schaerbeek this evening. The suburb is where the three airport attackers left from on Tuesday morning carrying three explosive-packed suitcases.

Schaerbeek residents tonight described hearing detonations during the police raids, but it was unclear whether they were explosions or controlled blasts.

Six people have been arrested in raids across Brussels tonight in connection with Tuesday’s massacres