Police asked citizens to refrain from posting about the operation on Twitter after people began tweeting photos of police standing guard and setting up roadblocks.
“For safety, please observe radio silence on social media #Bruxelles ongoing police operations. Thank you,” police tweeted.
The public responded by posting various photos and videos of cats, along with jokes to lighten the mood and messages of support.
When the operation was completed, police acknowledged the viral phenomenon bytweeting out a thank you to the cats and those that shared them.
The tweet, accompanied by a photo of a bowl of cat food read: “To all the cats that helped us last night…help yourselves!”
