Brussels on Lockdown, Imminent and Specific Terror Threat

By Jeralyn, Section War on Terror
Posted on Sat Nov 21, 2015 at 12:03:46 PM EST
Tags: Brussels, ISIS (all tags)

Share This: Digg!

Brussels looks like a militarized war zone. It's on lockdown, the Metro has been closed. Authorities say there is a specific and immediate threat of a "Paris Style" attack.

The still-at-large alleged Paris bomber, Saleh Abdeslam, 26. He's believed to be in Brussels, trying to make his way back to Syria. There are reports he has physically disguised his appearance and using a new name, Yassine Baghli. Some friends of his brother say he contacted people on Skype trying to get back to Syria. [More...]

Two alleged accomplices, one of whom may have scouted the Paris attack sites, have been arrested in Turkey:

[Turkish authorities] identified one of the suspects as Ahmet Dahmani, 26, a Belgian national of Moroccan descent, who allegedly scouted target sites for the Paris attacks. He was arrested at a hotel in Antalya.

Two other suspects, Syrian nationals Ahmet Tahir, 29, and Mohammed Verd, 23, were arrested after they traveled from Syria to meet Dahmani, a Turkish government spokesman reported. The two were going to take him to Syria, it is alleged.

Also, it turns out the female cousin of Abdelhamid Abaaoud who was reported to have died when she detonated her suicide vest did not detonate anything. It was a third person with them in the flat:

Abaaoud's cousin, Hasna Aitboulahcen, was also killed in the shooting, although initial reports that she had died after detonating a suicide vest proved to be false.

A third suspect in the flat is thought to have detonated his vest, killing Hasna Aitboulahcen and wanted ISIS poster boy Abdelhamid Abaaoud.

< Friday Open Thread |