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Two suspects still on run after Brussels anti-terror raid that killed one Two suspects still on run after Brussels anti-terror raid that killed one
(about 4 hours later)
Belgian investigators are hunting for two suspects who fled an apartment in a raid linked to November’s terrorist attacks in Paris, after a police sniper killed a third man and uncovered weapons, ammunition and an Islamic State flag, officials have said. Police in Belgium are continuing to hunt for two suspects who fled a Brussels flat after a shootout during a raid linked to November’s Paris attacks which saw one gunman shot dead next to an Islamic State flag.
The gunman killedby police in the quiet southern Brussels neighbourhood of Forest on Tuesday was identified as Mohamed Belkaïd, a 35-year-old Algerian living illegally in Belgium. He was shot dead by a police sniper as he prepared to fire at officers from a window. “Next to his body was a Kalashnikov, a book on Salafism and an Islamic State flag,” said Thierry Werts, of the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office.
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Four officers were wounded in the joint French-Belgian raid in a Brussels neighbourhood and related searches. The apartment in southern Brussels also contained a large cache of ammunition, investigating prosecutor Eric Van der Sypt said.
Officials said they are looking for two more suspects who have not been identified. Two people were in custody. Belkaïd had previously only been known to police for a case of theft in 2014.
The dead man was identified as an Algerian man living illegally in Belgium, Mohamed Belkaïd, whose only contact with authorities appeared to be a years-old theft charge, said Thierry Werts, the Belgian federal prosecutor. On Tuesday afternoon, six Belgian and French police officers investigating the November Paris attacks that killed 130 people arrived at the flat in Forest to conduct a search. But gunmen with automatic weapons opened fire on them.
Belkaïd, 35, was shot to death by a police sniper as he prepared to fire from a window, Werts said. Police also detained one man who was dropped off at a nearby hospital with a broken leg and another found in an overnight house search. Le Monde reported that the flat, whose water and electricity had been cut off, was believed to have no one living in it. But a barrage of gunfire through a door from at least two people barricaded inside injured a total of four police officers.
Werts and Eric Van der Spyt, his office’s spokesman, said a decision would be made later on whether to hold or release the two. The area was sealed off as police hunted for the escaped suspects on Tuesday evening, and the search continued on Wednesday.
The patient with the broken leg has not yet been questioned, they said. One man who was detained for questioning at a nearby hospital after he was dropped off during the night with a broken leg has now been released without charge. Another person who was detained during a house search was also released without charge. The search for suspects continues.
The anti-terror raid in the Forest neighborhood was linked to the 13 November gun-and-bombing attacks on a stadium, cafes and a concert hall in Paris that left 130 people dead. The anti-terror raid in the Forest neighbourhood came as French and Belgian police continue to investigate the 13 November gun-and-bombing attacks on a stadium, Paris cafes and a rock concert.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks, in which Belgian citizens played key roles. The Paris attacks, which were claimed by Isis, are believed to have been in part prepared and coordinated in Brussels.
Since the Paris attacks, the officials said 58 people have been arrested in the direct investigation and another 23 arrested in related probes. Belgian officials said that since the Paris attacks, 58 people have been arrested in the direct investigation and another 23 arrested in related inquiries.
Brussels, headquarters of the European Union and Nato, was locked down for days after the Paris attacks for fear of a major incident there. Police confirmed that Tuesday’s apartment raid was not connected to Salah Abdeslam, the 26-year-old French national who grew up in Brussels and is one of the prime suspects in the Paris attacks.
The Belgian capital has maintained a high level of security alert since then, with military patrols a regular sight. Abdeslam, believed to have played a key role in organising the November attacks, has been on the run since November and is now one of the most wanted men in Europe. He left Paris in the hours after the attacks, shortly after his brother had blown himself up as part of the terrorist assault. Abdeslam fled across the border to Belgium helped by friends. He is believed to have stayed for a time in Belgium but has never been found.
Belgian prime minister Charles Michel said the country’s terror alert would stay at the second-highest level, “which means a threat is possible and likely”.
Michel called on residents to “stay calm and cool-headed” as the investigation continued into Tuesday’s police raid. He told broadcaster RTL: “The investigation continues and the danger remains.”