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| Key suspect in Paris attacks captured in Brussels raid | Key suspect in Paris attacks captured in Brussels raid |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| PARIS — Senior officials in Europe said one of at least two suspects captured in an anti-terrorist raid Friday in Brussels is Salah Abdeslam, a key figure in last year’s attacks in Paris that killed 130 people and wounded many more. | |
| Abdeslam, a 26-year-old French national who had resided in the Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels before the attacks, was wounded in the leg in the raid, authorities said. He had eluded authorities since the Nov. 13 attacks. The identity of a second person captured with him Friday was not immediately disclosed. | |
| Hours after the raid, explosions were heard in a Brussels neighborhood where police were searching for another suspected terrorist, news agencies reported. Belgium’s VTM television channel reported that a third suspect was arrested, but there was no immediate official confirmation. | |
| Belgian federal prosecutors said Friday that the fingerprints of Abdeslam, one of Europe’s most wanted men, were found in an apartment raided by police earlier this week. But they declined to give further details on an ongoing operation. | Belgian federal prosecutors said Friday that the fingerprints of Abdeslam, one of Europe’s most wanted men, were found in an apartment raided by police earlier this week. But they declined to give further details on an ongoing operation. |
| A shootout Tuesday led to the death of one suspect and the wounding of four Belgian police officers. | |
| The raid on Friday took place about 4:45 p.m. local time in Molenbeek, not far from the headquarters of the European Union, which on Friday afternoon announced a landmark deal with Turkey on Europe’s migrant crisis. | |
| [‘He is a barbaric man’ — the Belgian who may be behind the Paris attacks] | |
| Belgian television showed black-clad counterterrorism police with Belgian shepherds standing guard in Molenbeek as dusk fell over Brussels. | Belgian television showed black-clad counterterrorism police with Belgian shepherds standing guard in Molenbeek as dusk fell over Brussels. |
| French President Francois Hollande, asked about the events in Brussels during a European Union news conference, said, “It is true that there is a link with the terror attacks in Paris.” | French President Francois Hollande, asked about the events in Brussels during a European Union news conference, said, “It is true that there is a link with the terror attacks in Paris.” |
| Hollande was already in Brussels on Friday to attend a summit of E.U. leaders. Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel rushed out of the 28-leader meeting clutching a phone to his ear. Hollande later joined Michel in his office as they awaited news of the raid. | |
| Three senior European officials confirmed that Abdeslam was wounded in the raid. | Three senior European officials confirmed that Abdeslam was wounded in the raid. |
| “We got him,” Theo Francken, Belgium’s secretary of state for asylum and migration, confirmed on Twitter. | “We got him,” Theo Francken, Belgium’s secretary of state for asylum and migration, confirmed on Twitter. |
| Witnesses to the raid said they heard a fusillade of shots in the middle of a residential part of Molenbeek, an area of Brussels that has become well-known as a haven for Islamist militancy. | Witnesses to the raid said they heard a fusillade of shots in the middle of a residential part of Molenbeek, an area of Brussels that has become well-known as a haven for Islamist militancy. |
| Police “began shouting into a megaphone, telling a person to ‘put your hands in the air,’” a resident identified as Ilias told Belgium’s RTL television. “I didn’t understand what was happening. My son wouldn’t stop crying. We heard gunshots. It didn’t stop. A dozen gunshots. We saw a person on the ground. When I came to the window, they ordered me to go back in and close the curtains,” he said. | Police “began shouting into a megaphone, telling a person to ‘put your hands in the air,’” a resident identified as Ilias told Belgium’s RTL television. “I didn’t understand what was happening. My son wouldn’t stop crying. We heard gunshots. It didn’t stop. A dozen gunshots. We saw a person on the ground. When I came to the window, they ordered me to go back in and close the curtains,” he said. |
| Friday’s raid took place Molenbeek’s Rue des Quatre-Vents, less than four blocks from the area’s town hall. Abdeslam grew up in a modest residence across a cobbled square from the Molenbeek town hall, the seat of local authorities who have been criticized for doing little to monitor the growing radicalization in their midst. | Friday’s raid took place Molenbeek’s Rue des Quatre-Vents, less than four blocks from the area’s town hall. Abdeslam grew up in a modest residence across a cobbled square from the Molenbeek town hall, the seat of local authorities who have been criticized for doing little to monitor the growing radicalization in their midst. |
| [A decade ago, she warned of radical Islam in Belgium’s Molenbeek] | |
| More than an hour after Abdeslam was detained, Belgian RTBF radio said that detonations could still be heard on the Rue des Quatre-Vents. | |
| Abdeslam’s older brother, Brahim Abdeslam, detonated a suicide vest on the Boulevard Voltaire on the night of the attacks. It is widely believed that Salah Abdeslam was supposed to be on a suicide mission that night, as well. But instead, he slipped through a French and Belgian dragnet, and had not been definitively seen or heard from since. | Abdeslam’s older brother, Brahim Abdeslam, detonated a suicide vest on the Boulevard Voltaire on the night of the attacks. It is widely believed that Salah Abdeslam was supposed to be on a suicide mission that night, as well. But instead, he slipped through a French and Belgian dragnet, and had not been definitively seen or heard from since. |
| It is still not known exactly why he did not die in the attacks. Law enforcement officials speculated that he may have had a change of heart and fled. | It is still not known exactly why he did not die in the attacks. Law enforcement officials speculated that he may have had a change of heart and fled. |
| For months, he was the most wanted man in Europe. Law enforcement agencies across the continent hunted for a man who could provide vital clues about the still-murky origins of a plot that spilled blood at a variety of venues across Paris, including a concert hall during a performance by an American rock band. | For months, he was the most wanted man in Europe. Law enforcement agencies across the continent hunted for a man who could provide vital clues about the still-murky origins of a plot that spilled blood at a variety of venues across Paris, including a concert hall during a performance by an American rock band. |
| Salah Abdeslam was believed to have rented a car in Belgium that was later found near the Bataclan concert hall, where 89 people were massacred. | Salah Abdeslam was believed to have rented a car in Belgium that was later found near the Bataclan concert hall, where 89 people were massacred. |
| Another suspect, Mohamed Abrini, 30, was seen with Abdeslam at a gas station in Ressons, France, on the highway to Paris two days before the attacks, the Belgian prosecutor’s office said. Abrini was also being sought by European authorities. Europol, the E.U.’s law enforcement agency, described Abrini, a Belgian national of North African origin, as “armed and dangerous.” | |
| The Abdeslam brothers, the sons of Moroccan immigrants, were raised in the Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels. Salah Abdeslam was unemployed and was known to hang around a local café owned by his brother, Café Les Beguines. | The Abdeslam brothers, the sons of Moroccan immigrants, were raised in the Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels. Salah Abdeslam was unemployed and was known to hang around a local café owned by his brother, Café Les Beguines. |
| Salah Abdeslam was arrested in 2011 for breaking and entering. His co-defendant in the case was a childhood friend, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who would become the ringleader of the Paris attacks. | Salah Abdeslam was arrested in 2011 for breaking and entering. His co-defendant in the case was a childhood friend, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who would become the ringleader of the Paris attacks. |
| Abaaoud was killed five days after the attacks in a raid by French security forces on a hideout in a Paris suburb. | Abaaoud was killed five days after the attacks in a raid by French security forces on a hideout in a Paris suburb. |
| Another brother, Mohamed Abdeslam, told reporters after the Paris attacks that Salah Abdeslam was divorced from his wife and had no children. Friends and relatives expressed astonishment that he could have been involved in mass murder. | Another brother, Mohamed Abdeslam, told reporters after the Paris attacks that Salah Abdeslam was divorced from his wife and had no children. Friends and relatives expressed astonishment that he could have been involved in mass murder. |
| “Salah is a Muslim who prays, had in the last couple of months stopped smoking and drinking, and goes to the mosque once in a while,” Mohamed told the French channel BFMTV. “He dressed normally, didn’t show any signs of him being radicalized. It is a frustration that our family lived together without noticing what was going on.” | “Salah is a Muslim who prays, had in the last couple of months stopped smoking and drinking, and goes to the mosque once in a while,” Mohamed told the French channel BFMTV. “He dressed normally, didn’t show any signs of him being radicalized. It is a frustration that our family lived together without noticing what was going on.” |
| Law enforcement came close to apprehending Salah Abdeslam in the hours after the Paris attacks, when French police stopped a car he was riding in near the Belgian border. But the police allowed the car to proceed, and from then on, the search for his whereabouts was focused in Belgium. | Law enforcement came close to apprehending Salah Abdeslam in the hours after the Paris attacks, when French police stopped a car he was riding in near the Belgian border. But the police allowed the car to proceed, and from then on, the search for his whereabouts was focused in Belgium. |
| The hunt had appeared to be intensifying in recent weeks. In January, Belgian police raided an apartment in the Schaerbeek district of Brussels and reported finding Abdeslam’s fingerprint. On Tuesday in Brussels, a joint French-Belgian police operation that authorities said was linked to the Paris investigation triggered clashes that left a suspect with possible Islamic State dies dead. Law enforcement identified the dead man as Mohamed Belkaid, a 35-year-old Algerian. | |
| Abdeslam’s exact role in the plot remains unclear. More than a week after the killings, authorities found an explosives belt that had been discarded in a Paris trash can, triggering speculation that it had belonged to the 5-foot-7-inch Abdeslam. | |
| More than four months after the attacks, authorities have still not said exactly how many people may have been involved in the plot, or exactly how it originated. | |
| Mekhennet reported from Frankfurt, Germany. Michael Birnbaum in Moscow, Griff Witte in London and William Branigin in Washington contributed to this report. | |
| Read more: | Read more: |
| Belgium vows more raids after gunman with possible Islamic State ties is killed | Belgium vows more raids after gunman with possible Islamic State ties is killed |
| In Paris’s 11th arrondissement, joie de vivre became the target | In Paris’s 11th arrondissement, joie de vivre became the target |
| Remembering the victims of the Nov. 13, 2015 attacks in Paris | Remembering the victims of the Nov. 13, 2015 attacks in Paris |
| A decade ago, she warned of radical Islam in Belgium’s Molenbeek | A decade ago, she warned of radical Islam in Belgium’s Molenbeek |