ISIS Issues Statement Promising ‘Dark Days’ After Brussels Attack

In its claim of responsibility, ISIS said its members detonated suicide vests both at the airport and in the subway.

Islamic extremists on Tuesday struck at the heart of Europe, killing at least 34 people and wounding scores of others in back-to-back bombings of the Brussels airport and the city’s metro station. The attacks again laid bare the continent’s vulnerability to suicide squads.

Authorities released a photo taken from closed-circuit TV footage of three men pushing luggage carts in the airport, saying two of them apparently were suicide bombers and that the third was at large.

In its claim of responsibility, the Islamic State (ISIS) said its members detonated suicide vests both at the airport and in the subway, where many passengers fled to safety down dark tunnels filled with hazy smoke from the explosion.

A small child wailed, and commuters used cell phones to light their way out. ISIS warned of further attacks, issuing a communique promising “dark days” for countries taking part in the anti-ISIS coalition.

European security officials have been bracing for a major attack for weeks and warned that ISIS was actively preparing to strike.

In this time of tragedy, this black moment for our country, I appeal to everyone to remain calm but also to show solidarity.

Charles Michel, Belgian Prime Minister

Shockwaves from the attacks crossed Europe and the Atlantic, prompting heightened security at airports and other sites.

Last year it was Paris. Today it is Brussels. It’s the same attacks.

Francios Hollande, French President

Abdeslam told investigators that he was planning to “restart something” from Brussels, said Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders. He said on Sunday that authorities took the claim seriously because “we found a lot of weapons, heavy weapons in the first investigations and we have seen a new network of people around him in Brussels.”

While Belgian authorities knew that some kind of extremist act was being prepared in Europe, “we never could have imagined something of this scale,” Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon said.

One of the officials — all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk about their knowledge of ISIS operations — said Iraqi intelligence officials believe that three other ISIS activists remain at large in Brussels and are plotting other suicide-bomb attacks.

Also Read: Brussels Attacks Another Reminder of Belgian Security’s Weak Link