War

European authorities are scrambling to avert further terrorist attacks across the bloc in the wake of Tuesday’s bombings in Brussels that killed nearly three dozen people and wounded hundreds more.

14 months after the January 2015 raid in Verviers that left two men with links to Paris mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud dead, Belgian authorities are apparently still no closer to dismantling the ISIS cell responsible for the attacks in France and the bombings that unfolded in the Brussels airport and metro earlier this week.

A Russian documentary crew have uncovered damning evidence proving that Turkish government colluded with ISIS in purchasing their oil – funding the terror organisation and providing logistical support for the group to overthrow President Assad in Syria.  Documents obtained by Russia Today suggests that ISIS’ biggest sponsor is Turkey. RT.com reports: Shortly after the outbreak of the Syrian war, IS became a game-changer in Iraq and, in particular, Syria.

ISIS were planning on conducting an attack at a nuclear power plant in Brussels that could have killed millions of people, new intelligence suggests.  The group were spying on Belgium’s nuclear power chief as part of a kidnap plot to gain access to the atomic facility, Derniere Heure newspaper claims. Dailymail.co.uk reports: Hours of film of the home of the Research and Development Director of the Belgian Nuclear Programme were discovered in an apartment in Brussels raided by anti-terrorist police following the attack in Paris.

A Russian Special Operations Forces (SOF) officer was killed helping the Syrian army in the fight against ISIS and the battle for the ancient city of Palmyra. The hero officer fought to the death with ISIL militants during a target-designation mission when his position got compromised, according to a military spokesman at Hmeimim air base on Thursday. Sputnik reports: The officer’s name, rank and the date of the accident remain undisclosed.

Earlier today and on several occasions since Tuesday morning when the Bakraoui brothers blew themselves up at the Brussels airport and city metro, we’ve documented the connection between the Brussels attacks, the brazen assault on Paris in November, and other terror-related events that have unfolded in Belgium over the past 14 months.

Here are some bullet points worth noting: