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Brussels police believe five bombers may have been involved in attacks Belgian ministers offered to resign after criticism over attacks
(about 4 hours later)
Belgian police are hunting a third man filmed with two suicide bombers at Brussels airport and believe another suspect may have been involved in the blast at a metro station, as evidence mounted that all were part of the same Islamic State network responsible for last November’s carnage in Paris. Two Belgian ministers have offered to resign amid mounting criticism of the country’s failure to foil Tuesday’s Brussels attacks, as police hunted a third man seen with two suicide bombers at the airport and investigated whether another, fifth, suspect was involved in the blast at a downtown metro station.
European Union justice and interior ministers were meeting in an emergency session on Thursday as pressure intensified on the bloc to improve cooperation against terror attacks in the wake of the bombings in the Belgian capital, which killed at least 31 people and injured 270 more from nearly 40 countries. With evidence mounting that authorities had known for some months the Brussels attackers were members of the same Islamic State network responsible for November’s carnage in Paris, the country’s interior and justice ministers both offered to stand down over revelations that one of the bombers had been expelled by Turkey and flagged as a militant.
Turkey has accused Belgium of ignoring warnings about Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, who was deported from Turkey last year as a suspected foreign fighter in Syria and has now been identified as one of the two suicide bombers who blew themselves and 11 other people up at the airport shortly before 8am on Tuesday. Turkey has accused Belgium of ignoring warnings about Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, who was twice deported from Turkey last year as a suspected foreign jihadist and has been identified by prosecutors as one of the two suicide bombers who blew themselves and 11 other people up at the airport shortly before 8am on Tuesday.
Just over an hour later, Ibrahim’s brother Khalid detonated a bomb that killed at least 20 more people at Maelbeek metro station. French and Belgian media have said a man carrying a large bag was seen on CCTV in Khalid’s company just before the explosion and could have been a potential fifth attacker. Prosecutors also confirmed on Thursday that Ibrahim’s brother, Khalid, who detonated a bomb that killed at least 20 more people at Maelbeek metro station just over an hour after the airport explosions, had rented a flat used as a hideout for the Paris attackers and was the subject of an international arrest issued on 11 December.
It is not clear whether the man, pictured in a computer-generated image with hollow cheeks and a small goatee beard, was killed in the blast or escaped. Belgian officials have rejected Turkish allegations of inaction following Ibrahim el-Bakraoui’s deportation last July, saying foreigners suspected of fighting in Syria cannot be detained without evidence they have committed a crime. Bakraoui was on parole after serving half a nine-year sentence for armed robbery.
But the interior minister, Jan Jambon, admitted that “if you put everything in a row, you can ask yourself major questions” about the government’s handling of the Islamist threat. Jambon said the prime minister, Charles Michel, had refused to accept his resignation with the words: “In time of war, you cannot leave the field.” The justice minister, Koen Geens, also offered to go.
French and Belgian media have said a man carrying a large bag was seen on CCTV in Khalid’s company just before the explosion and could have been a potential fifth attacker. It is not clear whether the man, pictured in a computer-generated image with hollow cheeks and a small goatee beard, was killed in the blast or escaped.
The coordinated suicide bombings at the airport and metro station killed at least 31 people and injured 270 more from nearly 40 countries, according to the latest figures form the health ministry.
Police sources have told Belgian media they believe the second dead suicide bomber at the airport was Najim Laachraoui, 24, a veteran Belgian Islamic State fighter and bombmaker whose DNA was found on two of the explosive belts that were used in the Paris attacks.Police sources have told Belgian media they believe the second dead suicide bomber at the airport was Najim Laachraoui, 24, a veteran Belgian Islamic State fighter and bombmaker whose DNA was found on two of the explosive belts that were used in the Paris attacks.
The third suspect captured on airport security cameras, wearing a cream jacket and pushing a baggage trolley into the departures hall alongside Laachraoui and Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, is now the subject of a manhunt target of police searches. The Belgian federal prosecutor, Frédéric van Leeuw, has said the man fled the airport leaving behind a third suitcase bomb. The third suspect captured on airport security cameras, wearing a cream jacket and pushing a baggage trolley into the departures hall alongside Laachraoui and Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, is now the subject of a manhunt. The federal prosecutor, Frédéric van Leeuw, has said the man fled the airport leaving behind a third suitcase bomb.
All the Brussels attackers so far identified by police and prosecutors have links to Salah Abdeslam, the sole surviving suspect in the string of suicide bombings and shootings that killed 130 people in Paris last November.All the Brussels attackers so far identified by police and prosecutors have links to Salah Abdeslam, the sole surviving suspect in the string of suicide bombings and shootings that killed 130 people in Paris last November.
Laachraoui travelled to Hungary with Abdeslam last year, while the Bakraoui brothers rented safe houses in Belgium and France used by the Paris attackers and by Abdeslam himself after the attacks. Laachraoui travelled to Hungary with Abdeslam last year, while the Bakraoui brothers rented – as well as the Belgian safe house used by the Paris killers – an apartment in the Schaerbeek district of Brussels where Abdeslam himself hid for three weeks after the attacks.
Abdeslam, 26, who is suspected of buying materials, renting cars, booking rooms, scouting locations and moving people into place for the Paris attacks, was captured in the Belgian capital last week.
Related: Paris and Brussels: the links between the attackersRelated: Paris and Brussels: the links between the attackers
Abdeslam, 26, who was captured in the Belgian capital last week, appeared briefly in court on Thursday and was remanded in custody until 7 April. His lawyer, Sven Mary, said Abdeslam did not know anything about the Brussels attacks. He no longer opposes extradition to France, Mary said, but “wishes to leave ... as quickly as possible” in order “to explain himself”. He appeared briefly in court on Thursday and was remanded in custody until 7 April. His lawyer, Sven Mary, said Abdeslam no longer opposed extradition to France, but “wishes to leave ... as quickly as possible” in order “to explain himself”.
Belgian officials resisted Turkish criticism of their inaction following Ibrahim el-Bakraoui’s deportation last July, pointing out that suspected militants expelled from Turkey cannot be detained without evidence they have committed a crime. Mary said Abdeslam was due in court in Brussels on 31 March to face a European arrest warrant issued by France and that his extradition could take place in a matter of weeks.
The justice minister, Koen Geens, denied the 30-year-old Belgian citizen had been flagged as a possible terrorist. “At that time, he was not known here for terrorism,” Geens said. “He was a common law criminal out on parole.” European Union justice and interior ministers were meeting in an emergency session on Thursday as pressure intensified on the bloc to improve cooperation against terror attacks in the wake of the bombings in the Belgian capital.
But the case of Ibrahim el-Bakraoui – who like his brother had a long criminal record – underlines the scale of the problem facing the country’s security and intelligence services: some 300 Belgian nationals have fought in Syria, making Belgium the top European exporter of jihadi fighters relative to its population. The case of Ibrahim el-Bakraoui – who like his brother had a long criminal record – underlines the scale of the problem facing the country’s security and intelligence services: about 300 Belgian nationals have fought in Syria, making Belgium the top European exporter of jihadi fighters relative to its population.
As criticism mounted of Belgium’s apparent inability to smash domestic extremist networks, the country’s foreign minister, Didier Reynders, insisted security always had to be balanced with civil rights.As criticism mounted of Belgium’s apparent inability to smash domestic extremist networks, the country’s foreign minister, Didier Reynders, insisted security always had to be balanced with civil rights.
The president of the European commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, also came to Belgium’s defence, telling the Flemish-language daily De Standaard: “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. There was terrorism in Britain and in Germany in the 1970s and 1980. There was terrorism in Spain, in Italy and much more recently in France. People should stop lecturing Belgium.”The president of the European commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, also came to Belgium’s defence, telling the Flemish-language daily De Standaard: “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. There was terrorism in Britain and in Germany in the 1970s and 1980. There was terrorism in Spain, in Italy and much more recently in France. People should stop lecturing Belgium.”
The US defence secretary, Ash Carter, said events in the headquarters city of the EU and Nato showed more needed to be done to help American efforts to combat Islamic State in the Middle East.The US defence secretary, Ash Carter, said events in the headquarters city of the EU and Nato showed more needed to be done to help American efforts to combat Islamic State in the Middle East.
“The Brussels event is going to further signify to Europeans that, as we have been accelerating our campaign to defeat Isil [Isis] in Syria and Iraq and elsewhere, they need to accelerate their efforts and join us,” Carter told CNN.“The Brussels event is going to further signify to Europeans that, as we have been accelerating our campaign to defeat Isil [Isis] in Syria and Iraq and elsewhere, they need to accelerate their efforts and join us,” Carter told CNN.
Brussels airport is likely to remain closed until Saturday, with passengers diverted to Antwerp, Liege and Lille in France. Another minute’s silence was held across the country on Thursday, the second of three days of national mourning.Brussels airport is likely to remain closed until Saturday, with passengers diverted to Antwerp, Liege and Lille in France. Another minute’s silence was held across the country on Thursday, the second of three days of national mourning.
Michel, the prime minister, said everything was being done to determine who was responsible for the attacks, which he described as targeting the “liberty of daily life” and “the liberty upon which the European project was built.” Belgium and its people had been “hit at our heart,” he said.