With France still reeling from last week’s deadly attacks in Paris, Prime Minister Manual Valls warned Thursday that Islamic extremists might at a few point use chemical or biological weapons, and urged lawmakers to extend a national state of emergency by three months.
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Mr Valls said: “Terrorism hit France, not because of what it is doing in Iraq and Syria… but for what it is”. “But we know and bear in mind that there is also a risk of chemical or bacteriological weapons”, he added, as parliament debated measures to be taken in the wake of the Islamist attacks in Paris.
Michel also called for Belgium’s constitution to be amended – in a bid to increase the length of time a terror suspect can be held in police custody without charge. “It’s a condition of our collective security”, he said.
Police launched the operation after receiving information from tapped phone calls, surveillance and tipoffs suggesting that 27-year-old Abdelhamid Abaaoud was holed up in an apartment in Paris’ Saint-Denis neighborhood.
Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said Abaaoud was not arrested, and the dead suspects have not been identified. An official within the Belgian federal prosecutor’s workplace told the Related Press in that the Brussels raids have been happening in areas together with the Molenbeek neighborhood, which several of the suspects have links to.
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A further raid, in Laeken, is also linked to the Paris attacks that killed 129 people across six locations and injured a few 350 others. Investigators say Hadfi was a French national who was living in Belgium and had spent time in Syria. The raids are centering on “his entourage”, the official said.
