2016 Brussels police raids

2016 Brussels police raids
Part of the aftermath of the November 2015 Paris attacks
Type Police raid
Target Forest and Molenbeek, Belgium
Date 15/18 March 2016
Outcome Salah Abdeslam and 4 other suspects arrested
Casualties March 15:
  • 1 suspect killed
  • 4 police officers injured

March 18:

  • 2 suspects injured
  • 5 arrests

On 15 and 18 March 2016, Belgian police carried out raids on houses in Brussels. The raids were conducted in connection to the attacks in Paris four months earlier. In the raids, one suspect was killed and five others were arrested, including Salah Abdeslam, who is suspected of direct involvement in the Paris attacks.

Raids

15 March

Police carried out a raid on a house in Forest, a suburb of Brussels. A police statement said that the raid was related to the November 2015 Paris attacks.[1][2] The house was situated in the Rue du Dries, near the Audi factory in Forest.[3] Four police officers, one of them French, were wounded in the raid.[4] One suspect was killed, and a manhunt went underway for two other suspects.[5]

The suspect killed was identified by Belgian police as Mohamed Belkaid, a 35-year-old Algerian citizen. Belkaid immigrated to and lived for several years in Sweden, where he married a Swedish woman who was fifteen years older than him. During this period, he was sent to prison four times.[6] In 2014, he traveled to Syria to commit jihad.[7] Belkaid is believed to have been an associate of Salah Abdeslam, a suspected accomplice in the Paris attacks.[8] He was killed after being shot by a police sniper,[9] but not before his actions allowed Abdeslam and another suspect to escape through the rooftops.[10]

Two other suspects, brothers Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui, evaded capture during the raid. They later committed suicide bombings in Brussels a week later on 22 March.[11]

It was reported that an ISIS flag and Salafist literature were found in the flat, together with a Kalashnikov rifle and ammunition.[12] Also found were detonators that investigators now believe were intended to be used during the 22 March bombings in Brussels.[13]

18 March

On 18 March, Belgian prosecutors stated that Abdeslam's fingerprints had been found in the Forest flat.[14] Later that day, there were reports of further raids, and the sound of gunfire, in the Molenbeek area of Brussels.[15] Two suspects, identified as Abdeslam and Monir Ahmed Alaaj, were reportedly injured in one such raid.[9][16] Five people, including Abdeslam, were arrested during the raid.[17][18][19] On 16 April, the Interior Minister of Belgium, Jan Jambon, stated that protesters "threw stones and bottles at police and press" during Abdeslam's arrest.[20][21]

Another suspect, identified as 24-year-old Belgian citizen Najim Laachraoui, had not been caught yet.[22] He committed suicide bombings in Brussels a week later on 22 March.

Suspicion was apparently aroused to Abdeslam's location after a person in the flat made an unusually large pizza order. When officers arrived at the scene, they found the woman who made the food order with two other adults, children, and Abdeslam.[23] Police later announced that they were also led to Abdeslam's location after he phoned an associate they were monitoring, following his escape on 15 March.[10] Earlier, in December 2015, a police dossier was made containing information about a suspected radicalized person living in the flat. However, it wasn't passed to the relevant authority because, according to the Mechelen chief of police, the person responsible forgot to do so.[24]

Reactions

In the wake of the 18 March raid, French President François Hollande called Abdeslam's arrest "an important moment".[8] French Prime Minister Manuel Valls also welcome Abdeslam's arrest and added that more work needed to be done in tracking down terrorist cells in Europe.[25]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Shots in Brussels raid tied to Paris attacks". CNN. 15 March 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  2. ↑ "Gunfire in Brussels raid on 'Paris attacks suspects'". BBC News. 15 March 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "Brussels raid: Suspect killed in anti-terror operation". BBC News. 15 March 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  4. ↑ Chrisafis, Angelique; Rankin, Jennifer (16 March 2016). "One suspect dead, at least one still at large after Brussels terror raid". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  5. ↑ "Brussels raid over Paris attacks: Dead gunman was Algerian national". BBC News. 16 March 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  6. ↑ "Dömdes till fängelse fyra gånger men utvisades inte – varför?". Aftonbladet. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  7. ↑ "Belgisk terrorist bodde i Sverige" [Belgian terrorist lived in Sweden]. Dagens Nyheter. 17 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  8. 1 2 "Paris attacks: Salah Abdeslam 'changed suicide bomb plan'". BBC News. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  9. 1 2 "Paris attacks: Salah Abdeslam 'worth his weight in gold'". BBC News. 21 March 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  10. 1 2 Cruickshank, Paul (23 March 2016). "Abdeslam likely had plans with ISIS cell behind Brussels attacks, official says". CNN. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  11. ↑ Alastair Jamieson; Annick M'Kele (23 March 2016). "Brussels Attacks: El Bakraoui Brothers Were Jailed for Carjackings, Shootout". NBC News. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  12. ↑ Breeden, Aurelien (16 March 2016). "Belgium Says Algerian Killed in Raid May Have Had Links to Radical Islam". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  13. ↑ Paravicini, Giulia (22 March 2016). "Salah Abdeslam was part of Brussels bomb plot". Politico. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  14. ↑ "Brussels raid: Paris suspect Abdeslam's fingerprints found in flat". BBC News. 18 March 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  15. ↑ "'Shots fired' in new Brussels raids". BBC News. 18 March 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  16. ↑ "Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam shot, arrested in Brussels raid". Russia Today. 18 March 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  17. ↑ "Belgian police checking if man detained is Paris terror attack suspect". CNN. 18 March 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  18. ↑ Chrisafis, Angelique (18 March 2016). "Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam arrested in Brussels terror raid". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  19. ↑ Kennedy, Merrit (18 March 2016). "Paris Attacks Suspect Salah Abdeslam Is Captured During Raid In Brussels". NPR. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  20. ↑ "Belgian minister says many Muslims 'danced' after attacks". AFP. 16 April 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2016. They threw stones and bottles at police and press during the arrest of Salah Abdeslam. This is the real problem.
  21. ↑ Mortimer, Caroline (17 April 2016). "Muslims in Belgium 'dance in the street' following terrorist attacks, claims Interior Minister". The Independent. Retrieved 18 April 2016. 'They threw stones and bottles at police and press during the arrest of Salah Abdeslam. This is the real problem,' he said.
  22. ↑ Lilia Blaise (21 March 2016). "Belgian Police Name Man Suspected of Being Salah Abdeslam’s Accomplice". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  23. ↑ Elizabeth Dearden (19 March 2016). "Salah Abdeslam: Suspicious pizza order 'led police to Paris attacker's hideout' at Molenbeek flat". The Independent. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  24. ↑ Laurens Cerulus (26 March 2016). "Local police had Abdeslam information for 3 months, didn’t tell Brussels". Politico. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  25. ↑ Willsher, Kim (19 March 2016). "Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam 'backed out of blowing himself up'". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 March 2016.

Coordinates: 50°48′31″N 4°18′52″E / 50.8086°N 4.3145°E / 50.8086; 4.3145

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