Some world leaders have raised questions about the ease of access to Europe by terrorists, and criticised Belgium’s record of responding to the threat of terrorism before the deadly attacks in its capital.
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Islamic State posted a video on social media on Thursday calling the Brussels blasts a victory and featuring the training of Belgian militants suspected in the Paris attacks. The Department of Homeland Security announced heightened security even as it said there was no credible intelligence suggesting similar attacks were planned against the U.S.
Belgium on Thursday lowered its terror alert to the second highest level for the first time since the attacks, but soldiers still guarded key sites, streets were eerily quiet and public transport shut down again in the early evening.
Anti-terror police arrested one person in a raid in Brussels’ Anderlecht district Wednesday, according to BBC News.
“It will be decided tomorrow if these people will remain in custody”, the office said in a statement released late Thursday. “The danger has not gone away”, said Paul Van Tigchelt, the head of the terror assessment authority.
On Tuesday, two suicide attacks took place at the Brussels Airport departure hall in the northeastern municipality of Zaventem and another explosion inside a subway carriage at the Maelbeek station near European Union institutions. Officials say Khalid El Bakraoui had rented an apartment that was raided last week in an operation that led authorities to top Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam, linking the two attacks. He blew himself up outside a cafe during the attacks.
Three suicide bombers who struck Brussels airport and a metro train in attacks claimed by the Islamic State were identified Wednesday, as the manhunt for a fourth suspect whose suitcase bomb failed to detonate intensified. It is unclear whether he was killed in the attack or is at large. Belgian and Dutch authorities were warned he was “a foreign fighter”.
Turkey says Ibrahim was deported twice previous year in July and August.
Ambassador Chifamba told VOA Studio 7 that some Zimbabweans, who were supposed to arrive at the airport on the day of the bombings, went to Paris, France, and used buses to get to Belgium. They also appealed “as a matter of urgency” for the European Parliament to adopt an agreement that would allow authorities to exchange airport passenger data.
Abdeslam, said lawyer Sven Mary, didn’t know about the plan for the Brussels attacks that were carried out by men who had shared hideouts with him. Mary said the extradition process should be done by mid-April.
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BBC News reported 51-year-old David Dixon, of England, has also been missing since the attacks. The Belgian PM rejected their offers and Jambon said afterwards according to Reuters: “In time of war, you can not leave the field”, Jambon, a right-wing Flemish nationalist, declared.
