Belgium, and its capital in particular, have been at the centre of investigations into the Paris attacks after it emerged that two of the suicide bombers had been living in the country.
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Heavily armed police and soldiers patrolled Saturday morning at key intersections of the Belgian capital, a city of more than 1 million that is home to the headquarters of the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation alliance and offices of many multinational corporations.
A Paris police official said Saturday that he had no information about Dahmani or his possible visit to the attack sites. Salah Abdeslam, a French national who lived in Molenbeek, Belgium, is now the subject of an intern…
In a public message, the crisis center advised the population of the Brussels region to avoid areas where large numbers of people gather, including concerts, major events, train stations and airports, public transit and commercial districts.
On Friday night the 15 members of the security council adopted a French-drafted resolution calling on United Nations members to take “all necessary measures” in fighting Islamic State.
The increase in alert level for Brussels comes as authorities investigating last week’s terror attacks in Paris conduct raids in Belgium as they work to identify and take down the network of terrorists behind the carnage. Three people detained in Brussels are facing terrorism charges.
26-year-old Ahmet Dahmani, a Belgian of Moroccan origin, was reportedly detained at a luxury hotel in the coastal resort of Antalya. And the Paris prosecutor’s office told CNN that police were searching the mother’s home.
Turkey has always been accused by its Western allies of failing to do enough to halt the flow of jihadists across its border to IS controlled-territory in northern Syria. The Belgian extremist suspected of masterminding the deadly attacks in Pari… His brother Brahim blew himself up in the Paris attacks.
The suspected ringleader, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was killed in a raid Wednesday on an apartment in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. Others decided that enjoying themselves was the best way to defy the extremists.
The official, confirming a report by the Dogan news agency, said two other men were also arrested, without giving details.
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Since the attacks last Friday, 164 people considered unsafe have been placed under house arrest, he said. Hollande will travel to Washington and Moscow later in the week to push for a stronger worldwide coalition against IS.
