Reports: Suspect in Brussels terror attacks arrested
ABC 17 News is seeing reports that a suspect in the Brussels terror attacks has been arrested.
Reuters News is reporting the information, citing a Belgian newspaper.
Reuters said early Tuesday that the arrest comes asBelgian police were hunting a suspect named as Najim Laachraoui. The news outlet saidLaachraoui wasalready sought as his DNA had been found in houses used by the Paris attackers last year. It’s unclear if this is the man reportedly in custody.
ISIS says its operatives were behind the terror attacks in Brussels that killed at least 31 people Tuesday morning. A statement from the militant group says its extremists opened fire in the city’s main airport, and detonated suicide belts in the airport and metro.
At least 190 people were wounded in the attack. We’re seeing the wounded include an American service member and his family, four Mormon missionaries (three from the U.S., one from France), and two workers on a flight for India’s Jet Airways.
On Tuesday, Belgian police released a photo showing three men believed to have been involved in Tuesday’s deadly attack in Brussels. Officers were actively looking for the man on the far right in the photo.
RTBF public broadcaster in Belgium says the two airport suicide bombers were brothers named as Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui.
President Barack Obama has ordered that U.S. flags be flown at half-staff on Saturday in honor of the victims of Tuesday’s terror attack in Belgium. In a statement Tuesday afternoon, the president said,”The American people stand with the people of Brussels. We will do whatever it takes, working with nations and peoples around the world, to bring the perpetrators of these attacks to justice, and to go after terrorists who threaten our people.”
Leaders in the European Union, of which Belgium is a member, have pledged to tackle terrorism with all necessary means.
Nations around Europe are declaring with solidarity with Brussels after the attack.The French National Assembly opened its session on Tuesday with a minute of silence for the victims. Lawmakers in the Czech parliament in Prague and lawmakers in Spain also held a minute of silence.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and Belgium’s ambassador plan a silent gathering Tuesday evening and the Eiffel Tower will be lit in the colors of the Belgian flag.In London, the British prime minister’s office at Downing Street in London has also raised the Belgian flag in solidarity.
