Man threatening to blow himself up holds people hostage in Netherlands cafe as 150 homes are evacuated and town centre closed down

Police have surrounded a popular café in the Netherlands where a man has taken hostages and threatened to blow himself up.

The man entered the Café Petticoat in Ede early this morning, forcing the evacuation of some 150 homes in the area, according to local media.

'A hostage situation involving several people is underway in a building in the centre' of the town, police said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.

Video shared on social media showed a bomb disposal robot moving steadily down the street as police with automatic weapons and riot gear patrolled nearby.

Police said that three people had been released from the venue around 11:30am local time (10:30GMT).

Local media reported shortly before that three young people had been seen leaving the building crying. They included a young boy, Algemeen Dagblad reported.

'The situation is not over yet, but it is unclear how many people are still in the café.'

It is not known how many people are being held but local media have reported around four or five people are involved.

Police said there was currently no reason to suspect a 'terrorist motive' for the incident. 

The local municipality said on its website that the town centre had been closed off and that riot police and explosives experts were at the scene.

A 'Bearcat' heavily armoured car was also filmed arriving on the scene, used only in exceptional circumstances by the Special Interventions Service (DSI).

All shops were closed and civilians urged not to approach.

Insiders on social media said the hostage taker, whose identity has not been reported, entered with knives.

The venue had been hosting a party advertised for teens aged '16+' overnight, finishing at 4am.

First reports of the hostage taker emerged shortly before 6am.

'We see there are many questions about the motive. At this time there is no indication of a terrorist motive,' police said.

A local student, Lotte, said she saw snipers on the roof before the fire brigade escorted her away from the scene.

'They said, put on a coat, but I put on something more.

'I just hope it turns out well for everyone.' 

The Netherlands has seen a series of terror attacks and plots but not on the scale of other European countries, such as France or Britain.

In 2019, the country was stunned by a shooting spree on a tram in the city of Utrecht that claimed four lives.

A Turkish-born man identified as Gokmen Tanis later admitted a terror motive for the rampage that virtually shut down the country's fourth biggest city.

Also in 2019, Dutch police charged two suspected jihadists with planning a terror attack using suicide bombs and car bombs. Authorities said an attack was planned that year.

A young Afghan man identified only as 'Jawed S.' stabbed two American tourists at Amsterdam Central Station in 2018, later telling judges he wanted 'to protect the Prophet Mohammed.'

The assault came a day after far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders announced he was cancelling a plan to stage a cartoon competition to caricature the Prophet Mohammed.

At the time Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid urged Muslims to attack Dutch troops after Wilders' 'hostile act by this country (the Netherlands) against all Muslims.'

In the most serious incident involving a terror attack, outspoken Dutch anti-Islam film director Theo van Gogh was shot and stabbed to death in 2004 in Amsterdam by a man with ties to a Dutch Islamist terror network.