Belgian Police Arrest 7 in Bombing Probe, French Foil Paris Plot

The attack in Brussels, home to the European Union and NATO, has heightened security concerns around the world.

• Belgian police arrest seven people in their probe of ISIS suicide bombings in Brussels.
  
• Arrests after police searches in Schaerbeek in the north and Jette in the west, as well as in the centre of the Belgian capital.
  
• France thwarts militant plot “that was at an advanced stage.”
  
• Investigators believe Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam, arrested last Friday, planned a similar shooting and suicide bomb attack in Brussels.
  

Belgian police arrested seven people in their probe of Tuesday’s Islamic State (ISIS) suicide bombings in Brussels, while authorities in France said they thwarted a militant plot there “that was at an advanced stage.”

The federal prosecutor’s office in Belgium said on Thursday that the arrests came during police searches in the Brussels neighbourhoods of Schaerbeek in the north and Jette in the west, as well as in the centre of the Belgian capital.

The arrests came days after suicide bombers hit the Brussels airport and a metro train, killing at least 31 people and wounding some 270 in the worst such attack in Belgian history.

The attack in Brussels, which is home to the European Union and NATO, has heightened security concerns around the world and raised questions about European countries’ response to the threat from Islamist extremists.

The ISIS, which claimed responsibility for the Brussels bombings, also took credit for coordinated attacks in Paris in November that killed 130 people at cafes, a sports stadium and concert hall.

France Says it Foiled Advanced Attack Plot

In Paris on Thursday, authorities arrested a French national suspected of belonging to a militant network planning an attack in France.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said in a televised address that the arrest helped “foil a plot in France that was at an advanced stage.”

Cazeneuve added that the man arrested “is suspected of high-level involvement in this plan. He was part of a terrorist network that planned to strike France.”

After the arrest by the French counterterrorism service, DGSI, the agency raided an apartment building on Thursday night in the northern Paris suburb of Argenteuil. French TV station ITele reported that explosives had been found in the man’s house.

“At this stage, there is no tangible evidence that links this plot to the attacks in Paris and Brussels,” added Cazeneuve, who was in the Belgian capital earlier on Thursday.

Jihadist Network

Investigators are convinced the same jihadist network was involved in the November Paris attacks.

Belgian public broadcaster VRT said investigators believed that Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam, arrested last Friday, probably planned a similar shooting and suicide bomb attack in Brussels.

One man was killed in a shootout with police on 15 March that led to the discovery of assault weapons and explosives and the arrest of Abdeslam, 26, and another suspect on 18 March.

Belgium lowered its security alert level one notch to three from the highest level, four, but officials did not say what that would mean in terms of security measures that have included a heavy police and military presence in Brussels.

Islamic State posted a video on social media calling the Brussels blasts a victory and featuring the training of Belgian militants suspected in the Paris attacks.

The lawyer for Abdeslam said the French national wanted to “explain himself” and would no longer resist extradition to France. His lawyer, Sven Mary, said Abdeslam had not been aware of the plan for the Brussels airport and metro attack that was carried out by men who had shared hideouts with him.

Two sources familiar with the matter said the Bakraoui brothers had been on US government counterterrorism watch lists before the attacks. But it was not clear how long they had been known to the authorities.

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