BRUSSELS, Nov 21 Belgium raised the alert status for its capital Brussels to the highest level on Saturday, shutting the metro and warning the public to avoid crowds because of a “serious and imminent” threat of an attack.
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The alert level for the whole country was raised following the Paris attacks to level three out of four, implying a “possible or probable” threat. Large public events are now being limited, and a military and police presence has been heightened.
Subways and underground trams remain closed Sunday and officials recommended that sports competitions and all activities in public buildings should be cancelled and malls and commercial centers closed.
Specific reasons for the extraordinary alert in Brussels, which began Friday night, weren’t disclosed, but Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said Saturday that authorities had reason to suspect possible attacks in more than one location.
The decision to raise the threat alert to the highest level in the Belgian capital came as the manhunt continued for a suspect missing since the carnage in neighboring France.
Another Abdeslam brother, Ibrahim, died in the Paris attacks after he set off his own explosives belt outside a café. Brussels’ traditional New Year fireworks display was cancelled. The magazine said that Abdeslam had asked a friend to meet him to pass a message to his family – and warn the friend against being drawn into radical Islam. Police describe him as armed and risky. Fears of the risks he still poses prompted the cancellation last week of an global friendly soccer match in Brussels against Spain.
The suspected mastermind behind the attacks is Belgian Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who managed to enter Europe from Syria and was seen on the Parisian metro minutes after the deadly attacks.
Abaaoud’s fingerprints were found on one of three AK47 assault rifles in a vehicle left in eastern Paris, a source close to the investigation said, though it was not clear if he took part in the attacks or had just handled the weapon at a few point.
It was not clear if Mr Jambon he was referring to those involved in the Paris attacks, or others who might be planning attacks in Belgium.
Another member of the terrorist group which carried out the Paris attack, Salah Abdeslam, 26, is still on the run and the subject of an global search warrant.
Ahmet Dahmani, 26, a Belgian national of Moroccan descent, was arrested at a hotel in Antalya, CNN Turk reported.
A Belgian police commissioner told the Sunday People the men did not speak French but were cooperating.
A file was opened on Hadfi earlier this year after he had traveled to Syria, says a Justice Ministry spokesperson. Matilda, taking orders at StarbucksSBUX 0.86 % inside the station, said she had reassured her family that she was “statistically more likely to be radicalized than be the target” of terrorism.
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Nine people were arrested in a series of police raids in Brussels on Thursday in connection with last week’s Paris terror attacks.
