Key players
Salah Abdeslam The 26-year-old Belgian-born Frenchman is in custody in Belgium after his arrest Friday in a massive police raid. He is suspected of being the logistics man for the Islamic extremists who went on a rampage in Paris on Nov. 13, killing 130 people. Abdeslam is thought to have rented rooms, shopped for detonators and driven at least one of the killers from Brussels to Paris. He was Europe’s most wanted fugitive before being captured in the Brussels neighborhood of Molenbeek near his childhood home. ___ Najim Laachraoui Officials say Laachraoui is believed to have made the TATP-filled suicide vests used in the Paris attacks. A French police official told The Associated Press that Laachraoui’s DNA was found on all of the vests as well as in a Brussels apartment where they were made. TATP and other bomb-making materials were found in the search of an apartment in the Brussels neighborhood of Schaerbeek, linked to the Brussels attacks. Belgian police had already been searching for Laachraoui before that as a suspected accomplice of Salah Abdeslam. ___ Abdelhamid Abaaoud The Belgian-Moroccan extremist is thought to have orchestrated the Paris attacks. Authorities at first believed he had directed the attacks from Syria but later found he had slipped into Europe through Greece. He was killed during a French police raid near France’s national stadium outside Paris where three suicide bombers had blown themselves up during the Nov. 13 attacks. French prosecutors said he was traced to an apartment in the Saint-Denis neighborhood of Paris through phone taps and surveillance. ___ Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui The El Bakraoui brothers were two of the three suicide attackers Tuesday in Brussels. The Belgian prosecutor says Brahim, 29, blew himself up at the airport. The other brother apparently blew himself up in the city’s subway system. Officials say Khalid El Bakraoui had rented an apartment that was raided last week in an operation that led authorities to top Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam, linking the two attacks. ___ Brahim Abdeslam The older brother of Salah Abdeslam is believed to have been part of the team that attacked bars and restaurants in Paris on Nov. 13. He blew himself up outside a cafe during the attacks. His former lawyer said the 31-year-old was imprisoned in Belgium for a month in 2010 for stealing identity cards. ___ One of attackers killed at the airport has not been identified, nor has another man in white seen pushing a trolley alongside the two suicide bombers.
BRUSSELS (AP) – Belgian authorities searched Wednesday for a man pictured at the Brussels airport with two apparent suicide bombers, amid growing suggestions that the bombings of the Brussels airport and subway were the work of the same Islamic State cell that attacked Paris last year.
Several people who may be linked to the Brussels attacks were still on the loose and the country’s threat alert remained at its highest level, meaning there was danger of an imminent attack, said Paul Van Tigchelt, head of Belgium’s terrorism threat body. The attacks killed 34 people, including three suicide bombers, and injured 270 others, authorities said.
Belgium began three days of mourning, and government offices, schools and residents held a moment of silence to honor the dead, marking the moment in a mood of defiance mixed with anxiety that others involved in the attacks are still be at large.
Belgian prosecutor Federal Prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw identified two of the Brussels attackers as brothers – Ibrahim El Bakraoui, a suicide bomber at the airport, and Khalid El Bakraoui, who targeted the subway.
Investigators raided the Brussels neighborhood of Schaerbeek after the attacks and found a computer in a trash can on the street including a note from Ibrahim El Bakraoui saying he felt increasingly unsafe and feared landing in prison.
During a raid of the apartment where the brothers had stayed, investigators also found 15 kilograms of TATP explosives, nails, and other material for making explosives, the prosecutor said.
Van Leeuw said authorities do not know the identities of two other people pictured with Ibrahim El Bakraoui in a surveillance photo from the airport that police are circulating.
Two were suicide bombers, the prosecutor said; the other was a man in a white jacket and black cap who fled before the bombs went off, leaving behind a bag full of explosives, authorities said. That bag later blew up, but no one was injured.
The Islamic State group, which was behind the Paris attacks, has also claimed responsibility for the Brussels bombings.
Belgian state broadcaster RTBF, citing sources it did not identify, said Khalid El Bakraoui had rented an apartment that was raided last week in an operation that led authorities to top Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam.
Abdeslam was arrested Friday in the Brussels neighborhood where he grew up, a rough place with links to several of the attackers who targeted a Paris stadium, rock concert and cafes on Nov. 13. Those attacks killed 130 people.
A Belgian official working on the investigation told the AP that it is a “plausible hypothesis” that Abdeslam was part of the cell linked to the Brussels attack. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss an ongoing investigation.
Authorities are also still looking for a suspected accomplice of Abdeslam, Najim Laachraoui, whom they have been searching for since last week. It’s not clear if he has any connection to the Brussels attack. Belgian newspaper DH initially reported he might be the man in the white jacket at the Brussels airport, but later removed that report from its website.
Laachraoui is believed to have made the suicide vests used in the Paris attacks, a French police official told The Associated Press, adding that Laachraoui’s DNA was found on all of the vests as well as in a Brussels apartment where they were made. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation.
French and Belgian authorities have said in recent days that the network behind the Paris attacks was much larger than initially thought – and developments this week suggest the same group could have staged both the Paris and Brussels attacks.
The airport and several Brussels metro stations remained closed Wednesday, and authorities said the airport would remain closed at least through Thursday, forcing the cancellation of 600 flights each day. Security forces stood guard around the neighborhood housing the headquarters of European Union institutions, as nervous Brussels residents began returning to school and work under a misty rain.
As befits an international city like Brussels, the foreign minister said the dead collectively held at least 40 nationalities.
“It’s a war that terrorism has declared not only on France and on Europe, but on the world,” French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Wednesday on Europe-1 radio. Valls, who planned to visit Brussels later Wednesday, urged tougher controls of the EU’s external borders.
“We must be able to face the extension of radical Islamism … that spreads in some of our neighborhoods and perverts our youth,” he said. The Paris attackers were mainly French and Belgian citizens of North African descent, some from neighborhoods that struggle with discrimination, unemployment and alienation.
In its claim of responsibility, the Islamic State group said its members detonated suicide vests both at the airport and in the subway, where many passengers fled to safety down dark tunnels filled with hazy smoke from the explosion. IS warned of further attacks, issuing a statement promising “dark days” for countries taking part in the U.S.-led anti-IS coalition in Syria and Iraq.
European security officials have been bracing for a major attack for weeks and had warned that IS was actively preparing to strike.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Wednesday that big events, be they sports or cultural, must not be put on hold for fear of attacks. He said that includes the Euro2016 soccer tournament, a monthlong event being held in France that starts in June. Meanwhile, the Belgian football federation announced that it was calling off an international soccer friendly match against Portugal next week because of the attacks.
The latest:
BRUSSELS (AP) – The Latest on the attacks in Brussels and related investigations (all times local): 2:50 p.m. Dozens gathered for a moment of silence outside the European Commission, hoping to show solidarity with the victims of the Brussels attacks and be with their fellow citizens in a time of crisis. Among them was Alessandro Prister, 56, who works for Eurocontrol. He says Wednesday that he “felt it was my duty to show solidarity with all the victims” and to offer testament that this kind of attack should never happen again. Prister was saddened that such things could happen in Brussels and says “I couldn’t be any other place today.” ___ 2:35 p.m. Belgium’s chief prosecutor says investigators have found 15 kilograms (33 pounds) of TATP explosives at the house which the suspects in the Brussels attacks left from for the airport. Federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw says a cab driver who drove the three suspects to the airport led authorities to the house in Brussels. He says a special squad found the explosives inside the house, along with other chemicals that are commonly used to make bombs. Explosions on Tuesday at the Brussels airport and a city subway center killed 34 people, including three suicide bombers, and wounded over 270 people. ___ 2:10 p.m. The Belgian prosecutor says two suspects in the bombings at the Brussels airport have still not yet been identified – one of them is a dead suicide bomber and the other is still on the loose. Prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw, speaking about a surveillance photo showing three airport suspects, outlined what is known about them at a news conference Wednesday. Van Leeuw says the culprit in the middle, one of the two suicide bombers, was Ibrahim El Bakraoui, a 29-year-old Belgian born in Brussels. He said he was identified based on a fingerprint. He says the second suicide bomber, on the left in the picture, is not yet identified. The third suspect, who wore a pale coat and a dark hat in the right side of the picture, is also not yet identified and is being sought by police. That suspect took flight and left behind a big bag at the airport before the two explosions. Van Leeuw says that bag turned out to have the heaviest load of explosives of all and blew up later when the bomb squad was there due to the instability of the explosives. Van Leeuw says fortunately no one was injured. ___ 1:40 p.m. Belgian authorities say several people possibly linked to deadly attacks on Brussels are still on the loose. Paul Van Tigchelt, head of Belgium’s terrorism threat body, told reporters Wednesday that is why the country is keeping the terrorism threat level at its highest level, which means there is a danger of an imminent attack. He spoke alongside prosecutors who say they are searching for at least one person directly involved in the attack on Brussels airport. ___ 1:30 p.m. A Belgian prosecutor says a suicide bomber who attacked the Brussels airport left a will on a computer found in a trash can in a Brussels neighborhood. Federal Prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw told reporters Wednesday that Ibrahim El Bakraoui blew himself up at the airport Tuesday in twin suicide bombings. Investigators raided the Brussels neighborhood of Schaerbeek after the attacks and found a computer in a trash can on the street including a note from El Bakraoui saying he felt increasingly unsafe and feared landing in prison. The prosecutor also said one person detained in one of the raids remains in custody Wednesday and is under questioning. __ 1:25 p.m. A Belgian prosecutor has identified two of the attackers who targeted the Brussels airport and subway as brothers Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui but says another unidentified attacker remains at large. Federal Prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw told reporters Wednesday that Ibrahim El Bakraoui, 29, and another as yet unidentified suicide bomber attacked the airport. A third attacker also came to the airport with an explosive in a bag, but it exploded later and no one was hurt, the prosecutor said. He said Khalid El Bakraoui, 27, blew himself up at the Maelbeek subway station. The attacks Tuesday killed at least 31 people and wounded 270, he said. ___ 12:40 p.m. Brussels airport has announced that it will remain closed to passenger flights for at least another day, right up to the start of the busy Easter weekend. Airport officials said they would have to cancel some 600 flights each on Wednesday and Thursday. It means that since the attack on the airport Tuesday morning, the flights of some 180,000 passengers will be disrupted. Brussels airport was hoping to resume cargo flights earlier but there was no immediate word on when. ___ 12:35 p.m. Belgians are holding a moment of silence to honor at least 34 people killed in unprecedented Islamic extremist attacks on Brussels. Government offices, schools and residents marked the moment in a mood of anxiety, defiance – and fear that other people involved in the attacks Tuesday on the Brussels airport and a subway station may still be at large. The country is holding three days of national mourning for the victims. In addition to those killed, over 200 people were wounded in the attacks. Belgian police, meanwhile, are conducting raids and the country is at its highest terrorism alert level, meaning there’s a risk of an imminent attack. ___ 12:20 p.m. The Belgian football federation has called off an international soccer friendly match against Portugal next week because of Tuesday’s attacks in Brussels. The federation said “because of security concerns” the city of Brussels asked for the cancellation and the federation obliged. The game was to have been played next Tuesday at the King Baudouin stadium in Brussels. The Belgian team, which is one of the favorites to win this summer’s European Championships, had already canceled training for the friendly since the attacks. ___ 12:10 p.m. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls says the show must go on and big events, be they sports or cultural, must not be put on hold for fear of terror attacks. He says Wednesday that includes the Euro2016 soccer tournament, a monthlong event being held in France that starts in June. Valls says “the big popular events are indispensable in showing that we are a free people, on our feet, that we aren’t scared.” Some commentators had called for the soccer tournament to be postponed due to the threat of terror. Valls says authorities know these events are faced with a terror threat and will plan accordingly. But he insists that events like the Euro2016 tournament, the Tour de France bicycling race and “other large demonstrations will take place.” ___ 11:10 a.m. Pope Francis has led thousands of people in silent prayer for the victims of the attacks at Brussels’ airport and in its metro. At the end of his public audience in St. Peter’s Square Wednesday, Francis expressed his closeness to the “dear Belgian people” and asked the crowd of pilgrims and tourists to join him silently in prayer. He also appealed to “all persons of good will to unite in unanimous condemnation” of the attacks causing death, horror and sorrow. Francis is preparing to celebrate Holy Week ceremonies that will draw large crowds, including a Colosseum cross procession and culminating with Easter Mass in the square on Sunday. The U.S. Embassy in Rome on Wednesday issued a travel alert advising “particular caution during religious holidays” as well as at large events. ___ 11:05 a.m. The Czech Defense Ministry says soldiers have been deployed as part of stepped-up security measures following the attacks in Brussels. As of Wednesday morning, the ministry says 550 service members will be patrolling international airports, train stations and other places in the capital and all across the country, working with police officers. Security was also boosted at Prague’s subway network, at the country’s two nuclear power plants and some foreign embassies. ___ 10:55 a.m. A lawyer’s assistant says a judicial hearing in Brussels for Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam has been postponed for a day to Thursday, apparently because of heightened security concerns in the Belgian capital. Bombing attacks Tuesday in the Brussels airport and subway killed 34 people and wounded scores, and the terrorism alert level throughout Belgium has been raised to its maximum level. Abdeslam, who was arrested Friday in Brussels, was to appear Wednesday before a panel of judges who could extend his detention by another month. French authorities are seeking Abdeslam’s extradition so he can be tried for his alleged role in the Nov. 13 bomb-and-gun attacks that killed 130 in Paris. An assistant to Sven Mary, Abdeslam’s defense lawyer, told The Associated Press her boss was told the hearing had been rescheduled for Thursday morning. She refused to give her name. ___ 9:55 a.m. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls is urging the EU parliament to get going on authorizing a passenger name record (PNR) covering Europe. He says: “It is urgent to adopt the European PNR. The European Parliament has waited too long to adopt this text. It must examine and adopt it in April, it’s time.” Valls is going to Brussels today and says he will express his “full solidarity” with Belgium’s people. ___ 9:45 a.m. As Brussels woke after its worst violence in decades, joggers ran loops and dog walkers chatted as usual in Brussels’ 18th-century Warandepark across from the country’s parliament. But gardeners on duty said the atmosphere was different, and the mood around town was jittery as sirens frequently wailed. “It was black day. A very black day,” said Jean-Marie Vrebos, 58, who was cleaning the park’s playground. “We should punish those who commit terrorism. We don’t deserve terror. We should punish them, GRAB them” – he yanked a piece of trash off the ground with a clasper – “and bring them to justice.” His colleague Kevin Engels, 24, said, “Behaviors have changed. Even our bosses seem stressed. They asked us to empty all the trash cans. We pay close attention to everything. And you can hear the sirens.” ___ 9:30 a.m. Germany’s top security official says he wants European security agencies to be able to exchange information more easily. Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told RTL television late Tuesday that the Brussels attacks “and the security situation, the terror situation, should make us put the data protection arguments last.” De Maziere also says a soccer friendly match against England will go ahead despite the Brussels attacks. He says authorities “have no indications of a security threat” targeting the match in Berlin on Saturday. In November, Islamic extremists tried to enter the stadium where Germany was playing France as part of a series of attacks in Paris. Days later, a friendly against the Netherlands days was canceled because of a security warning. ___ 8:30 a.m. Belgian authorities were searching Wednesday for a top suspect in the country’s deadliest attacks in decades, as the European Union’s capital awoke under guard and with limited public transport after 34 were killed in bombings on the Brussels airport and a subway station. Police conducted raids into the night and circulated a photo of three men seen in the airport suspected of involvement in Tuesday’s attacks. Belgian state broadcaster RTBF has identified two of the attackers as brothers Khalid and Brahim Bakraoui. They are believed to have blown themselves up in the attacks. The third man is at large and has not been identified. The report Wednesday says the brothers were known to police for past crimes, but nothing relating to terrorism. RTBF says Khalid Bakraoui had rented an apartment which was raided by police last week in an operation that led authorities to top Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam.