Belgians tweet cat pictures during #BrusselsLockdown Published duration 23 November 2015 Related Topics November 2015 Paris attacks

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On Sunday night, as a major anti-terror police operation was under way in Brussels, authorities asked the public to not report officers' movements online.

The Belgian capital has been on lockdown since Saturday amid a search for suspected Paris attacks gunman Salah Abdeslam.

On Twitter, the hashtag #BrusselsLockdown had been the term of choice for people discussing the raids.

But on Sunday night, the term was overtaken by Twitter users posting pictures and videos of cats, to make sure that any leaking of operational details were drowned out.

image copyright Twitter

Some responded to the police request by giving journalist-style updates on the operations...

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image copyright Twitter

image copyright Twitter

Others responded with humour to the situation Belgians have found themselves in over the weekend:

image copyright Twitter

image copyright Twitter

image copyright Twitter

After the raids, and the arrest of 16 people across the country, authorities thanked Belgians for their co-operation:

"To all the cats who helped us last night: help yourselves! #BrusselsLockdown"

image copyright Twitter