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Two arrested in Swiss anti-terror operation

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Two arrested in Swiss anti-terror operation
File photo of an armed police officer on patrol. Photo: Richard Juilliart / AFP

Swiss police arrested two people in a counter-terror operation in the Vaud canton, national media reported on Monday.

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The pair were stopped in a shopping centre car park at 3pm on Saturday afternoon, according to a report in 20 Minutes.

Both suspects, a man and a woman, are accused of supporting or participating in a criminal organization, a spokesperson for the Swiss Public Prosecutor's Office said.

READ ALSO: Switzerland faces 'heightened' terror threat in uncertain Europe

The spokesperson did not confirm which organization the two are suspected of supporting, but said they are thought to have "contravened the federal law prohibiting the Al-Qaeda and Isis groups and related organizations".

Saturday's arrest comes just days after a man was arrested in Geneva on suspicion of supporting terrorist groups.

The Geneva man was reportedly suspected of being a key figure in the recruitment of jihadists on Swiss soil and was sought by Swiss police for at least two years.

Switzerland's government last week launched a period of consultation aimed at tightening anti-terror laws, as the country remains on high alert in the wake of recent attacks across Europe.

The new measures would replace the current temporary ban on terror organizations including Al-Qaeda and Isis with new, more specific, legislation making it a criminal offence to recruit people for a terror group, receive terrorist training or travel abroad for the purposes of terrorism.

READ ALSO: 'Paranoid' man causes terror fears in Lausanne metro

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