Two days after the tragic terrorist attacks in Brussles, the situation remains extremely fluid, with the largest concern being that more sleeper cells may be activated especially since the third man who participated at the Zaventerm airport suicide bombing is still at large. Here, courtesy of the Guardian and Politico, are the most recent key developments out of Belgium.
- Police are still looking for one man who left a large bomb at Zaventem airport Tuesday and fled the scene. Unconfirmed reports in Belgian media Thursday said that a second man participated in the attack at Maalbeek metro, but that it isn’t known if he died or is still at large.
- A lawyer for Salah Abdeslam, the surviving member of November’s attacks on Paris says his client didn’t know of the plans to attack Brussels. Sven Mary also said Abdeslam no longer plans to fight an extradition request and wants to return to France as soon as possible.
- Belgium police are working to identify a man filmed in the company of metro train bomber Khalid el-Bakraoui shortly before he blew himself up. France’s Le Monde and the Belgian broadcaster RTBF said the man was carrying a big bag and was considered a potential fifth attacker.
- Najim Laachraoui has been tentatively identified as the second airport bomber by French and Belgian media reports, but this has not been confirmed. Reports on Tuesday that he had escaped and was later arrested proved to be wrong.
- The identity of a third man seen at Zavantem airport has not yet been established. Officials said he is thought to have fled the scene after his own bomb failed to detonate. A manhunt is underway.
- Turkey said it had deported Ibrahim el-Bakraoui to the Netherlands in the summer of 2015 and had warned Belgium that he was a suspected foreign fighter. An official told Reuters that Bakraoui was deported a second time in August.
- 31 people are confirmed to have died in the two attacks, and 300 wounded. Of these, 150 are still being treated in hospitals, 61 of whom are in intensive care. Four patients remain unidentified.
- Three people have so far been officially identified among the dead: Adelma Tapia Ruiz, Leopold Hecht and Oliver Delespesse. Two unnamed Moroccans are reported to have died, as fears grow for those missing including Briton David Dixon and Indian Raghavendran Ganesh.
- Rob Wainwright, the head of Europol has warned that a network of at least 5,000 terrorists suspects is more dangerous than previously feared. He confirmed the connection of the Brussels bombers to November’s attacks in Paris and warned of new “aggressive” strategy by Islamic State militants to attack Europe.
- Justice Minister Koen Geens said that he did not know about the communication from Turkey on Brahim el-Bakraoui, one of the Brussels attacks suspects. He had been arrested in Turkey last year and deported, but Belgium ignored warnings that he was a “foreign terrorist fighter,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an said Wednesday. “It is only normal that a Justice Minister does not know what happens on embassies. We could not know this.”
- Broadcaster VTM reports that both Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon and Justice Minister Koen Geens had presented their resignation to Prime Minister Charles Michel yesterday, but that Michel refused. Jambon wanted to “take responsibility” news agency Belga understands.
- The Dutch parliament will this afternoon discuss the Brussels attacks. Turkish President Erdogan said yesterday that el-Bakraoui was arrested at the Turkish-Syrian border and deported to the Netherlands last year. There is still much confusion about the facts. Justice Minister Ard van der Steur said: “We’re just trying to get the facts right so that we can inform the parliament,” said Van der Steur. The Dutch government will meet this afternoon, followed by a debate in parliament at 17.30.
- Travelers going to Gare Centrale and Gare du Midi have to be prepared for queues before they can enter two of Brussels’ central train stations, with military and police staff checking luggage and handbags at the sealed entrances.
Source: Politico, Guardian