The ISIL militant group claimed responsibility for what is the worst such attack in Belgian history.
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Belgian police are also facing questions on how the then most-wanted man in Europe, Salah Abdeslam, sought in connection to the November 13 attacks in Paris, seemingly managed to return and spend five months living in his native Molenbeek, before being arrested last week.
The prosecutor also linked Laachraoui to November’s Paris carnage in which 130 people died, saying his DNA was found on a suicide vest and a piece of cloth discovered at the Bataclan concert hall where 90 people were killed.
Among those people arrested in Belgium, none appear to be the “third man” caught on Brussels airport CCTV with the two bombers who struck there, the source said. Two brothers, Khalid and Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, were identified as suicide bombers – one at Zaventem airport and one at Maalbeek metro station.
During his audition on March 18, Abdeslam also admitted that he rented cars and reserved hotel rooms per request of his brother Brahim, who is one of the Paris assaults’ suicide bombers.
Schaerbeek mayor Bernard Clerfayt said a man had been arrested and shot in the leg.
He has been dubbed the “man in white” because of his appearance in a white coat – compared to his two alleged accomplices who are wearing black – and is believed to be on the run.
His lawyer Sven Mary told French Media Abdeslam “wishes to leave for France as quickly as possible” so he could “explain himself in France”.
A helicopter circled overhead, and the area was under extraordinarily heavy security, as are many parts of the Belgian capital.
Kerry, traveling back to Washington after talks in Moscow, stopped in Belgium to demonstrate solidarity after the attacks, which killed 31 people and injured hundreds of others.
When someone is arrested there in a city few people know, it is clear enough for insiders that it could be a terrorist.
The attacks have stunned Brussels, home to the headquarters of the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Turkish officials said he was later released from Dutch custody due to lack of evidence of involvement in extremism.
According to the Associated Press, ISIS has trained at least 400 fighters to carry out waves of attacks in Europe created to inflict maximum carnage.
Security remains tight, but barriers were removed around the subway station hit by the attack, Maelbeek.
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The Brussels airport will be closed through Sunday.
