Police in a southwestern district of the Belgian capital of Brussels are being given special protection due to the potential threat posed by Islamic extremists, local media reported Friday.

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) – The measures were adopted after police uncovered clandestine photographs of several officers and their family members on the mobile phone of a detained suspect on August 14, according to the La Derniere Heure daily.

No further details about the special protective measures have been provided, due to the ongoing security threat.

The Midi police division covers the southwestern areas of Anderlecht, Saint-Gilles and Forest, and is home to a sizable Muslim population.

Reports have emerged that city police refused to go on patrol unarmed on September 1, as required by local regulations on the first day of the school year.

Last month, Belgian law enforcement personnel requested that Interior Minister Jan Jambon cancel police participation in the July 21 National Day parade, due to concerns over terrorism risks.

In January, Belgium increased its terrorist threat level to the second-highest grade following a series of deadly attacks in Paris, France.

Belgium accounts for the highest per capita number of foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria of any Western nation, with 440 militants out of a population of 11.4 million, according to the International Center for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence.