Operation Vigilant Guardian

June 20, 2017, a man entered the enclosure of the Brussels Central Station and tried to perpetrate a terrorist attack. The perpetrator, called Osama Z, was killed by soldiers mobilizing as part of Operation Vigilant Guardian, thwarting an attack.^[9]

This neutralization, in addition to saving aspect, reports of an exceptional nature, this is the first time since the Second World War that a soldier kills someone on the Belgian territory.^[10]

On 26 August 2017, a man was shot in the center of Brussels on the Boulevard Émile Jacqmain, after attacking a military patrol with a knife, wounding one of the soldiers. The federal prosecutor called the attack terrorist aggression. It was claimed the next day by the Islamic State. A few days after the attack on 28 August 2017, the General Staff of the army Marc Thys, announced that the military will continue their patrols on the street, at least until 2021.

On 26 August 2022 Belgium's terrorism tracking Coordination Unit for Threat Analysis (OCAM) briefly raised the threat level in Brussels from "medium" to "serious", after a vehicle rammed into an outdoor cafe, injuring several people. The perpetrator was caught and arrested in Antwerp later that day. The level was dropped back to medium a few hours later after officials found "reassuring elements in their investigation".

On 16 October 2023, the Belgian authorities heightened the threat level for the Brussels-Capital region to its highest level of 4, after the 2023 Brussels attack the same day. This is the highest level since August 2022.^[11]

The Vigilant Guardian transaction is directly inspired by the French military operation called Operation Sentinel implementation in the hexagon after the wave of attacks that hit France in January 2015.

• Operation Temperer is the British Army equivalent operation.
• Operation Banner was the British Armed Forces' operation in Northern Ireland from August 1969 to July 2007, as part of the Troubles.