GETTY•IG Police in France have been on high alert

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Belgian counter-terrorism experts have warned French police to be on their guard against the jihadis who left Syria 10 days ago. The Isis henchmen planned to make their way to Europe via boat from Turkey to Greece posing as refugees without passports. The mob will then separate into two attacks units and hit France and Belgium while the football tournament is in progress. Their targets are said to include police, American fast food restaurants and a shopping mall in Brussels.

The warning came 24 hours after Isis fanatic Larosi Abballa, 25, was shot dead by police after killing a deputy police chief and his wife 50 miles from England’s Euro 2016 training base in the French town of Chantilly. The alert has been circulated to all police forces in Belgium, although authorities there said there were no immediate plans to raise the security level to the maximum, indicating an imminent threat of an attack. Belgium's anti-terror unit was quoted as saying the group "left Syria about a week and a half ago aiming to reach Europe via Turkey and Greece by boat without passports”. An exact departure date of the terror cell was not given but police are on heightened alert in France as the Euro 2016 championships continue.

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According to reports, the jihadi cell en route to Europe is heavily armed and ready to split into two, possibly to carry out simultaneous attacks in both Belgium and France, which have been rocked by recent ISIS-linked terror attacks. Potential targets in Belgium included a shopping centre, a fast-food restaurant and a police station. No specific targets were cited in France, although the country is hosting the Euro 2016 championships in 10 stadiums across the country until July 10, with around 2.5 million spectators expected to watch the 51 matches.

A senior French security official admitted last week that he was “worried” about sleeper cells already based in Europe which were waiting to pounce. The unnamed counter-terrorism officer said the French security services had done “as much as possible” ahead of Friday’s opening match in Paris. But he also acknowledged that Europe’s “borders cannot be controlled” and warned of terror cells in Germany “who have stayed quiet and waited”.

PA Armed gendarmerie at the entrance of the Stade de Montbauron, Versailles

REUTERS England training ahead of their match against Wales