Hours later, Belgian police, working on a request from the French, detained three men – including one of Abdeslam’s brothers – in Molenbeek, which authorities consider to be a focal point for Islamic extremists and fighters going to Syria from Belgium. Witnesses at the memorial said they heard gunshots, but there is no official word on what caused the crowd to disperse. But one US official said Sunday that the evident weaponry skill displayed by the attackers suggests that they might have received training somewhere.
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Abdeslam, a French resident of Belgium, was not among those arrested.
“RTL said there would be a press confernce later by the prosecutor’s office”. This time, three teams of attackers were involved and seven suicide bombers blew themselves up – three near the stadium, three at the concert hall and one not far from it, authorities said. The auto is believed to be the one in several of Friday’s attacks.
Belgium has issued an worldwide arrest warrant for a man suspected of having taken part in the Paris attacks with two of his brothers, a judicial source said Sunday. In several recent attacks in France, such as the January attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine, investigators have found links between the assailants and French-speakers in Syria. “That’s what struck me, his childish face, very determined, cold, calm, frightening”, Pearce said.
Officials said a suicide bomber at the concert hall was identified as a young Frenchman flagged in the past for links with an Islamic extremist activity, and a Syrian passport was recovered from the remains of another suicide bomber outside the stadium.
The French government has declared a state of emergency and announced three days of mourning for the victims of Friday’s bloodshed. French troops have deployed by the thousands and tourist sites remain shuttered in one of the most visited cities on Earth. Panic ensued Sunday night as police abruptly cleared hundreds of mourners from the famed Place de la Republique square, where police said firecrackers sparked a false alarm. “The sirens and screaming are a source of fear”.
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“Lots of people started running and screaming from the Carillon…tables were overturned, plates shattered”.
