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Police Storm Brussels Building as Antiterror Dragnet Widens Belgian Suicide Attacker Made Paris Bombs, Authorities Say
(about 3 hours later)
BRUSSELS — Specialized police units stormed a building in the Schaerbeek section of Brussels on Friday afternoon, as the inquiry into the terrorist attacks on Tuesday widened to encompass investigations in France, Germany and the Netherlands. BRUSSELS — One of the two men who blew themselves up at Brussels Airport on Tuesday was a bomb maker who helped produce two suicide vests used in the attacks that killed 130 people in and around Paris on Nov. 13, the Belgian authorities said on Friday.
Gunfire and two explosions were heard in Schaerbeek, and numerous witnesses said that a suspect had been shot in the raid. A bomb squad was on the scene. The neighborhood’s main street was blocked off, and the police were expanding a security perimeter. The bomb maker — Najim Laachraoui, 24, a Belgian citizen who went to Syria in February 2013 — was described as an accomplice of Salah Abdeslam, 26, who was captured in Belgium last Friday after a four-month global manhunt and charged with terrorist murder. Mr. Abdeslam is suspected of being the sole surviving direct participant in the Paris attacks, and his arrest appears to have accelerated the plot that culminated in the attack on Brussels.
Marios Kasinos, 34, a food company researcher from Cyprus, who lives in Schaerbeek, was watching television on his day off when he heard two rounds of gunfire in succession. On Dec. 10, in an apartment on Rue Henri Bergé in Schaerbeek, investigators found bomb-making equipment, a fingerprint from Mr. Abdeslam and Mr. Laachraoui’s DNA. And on Monday — three days after Mr. Abdeslam was captured in Molenbeek, the Brussels neighborhood where he grew up — the authorities asked for help finding Mr. Laachraoui.
“I called my friends immediately, they told me I was being paranoid but then within a few seconds, police officers and soldiers came over,” he said. “I saw from the window people running to evacuate the streets, and the police making people step off a bus and a tram. Now, the whole street is closed.” It was too late. At 7:58 a.m. on Tuesday, he blew himself up at Brussels Airport, along with another suicide bomber, Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, 29. News agencies had widely reported Mr. Laachraoui’s death, but officials awaited DNA results before confirming the news. On Friday, it became clear that Mr. Laachraoui was a crucial link between the Paris and Brussels attacks.
As he was speaking on the phone at 2:35 p.m., he said, an explosion could be heard in the distance. “I feel very uncomfortable,” Mr. Kasinos said. “I immediately thought about the terrorist attacks when I heard the gunshots. I have been really worried since the events on Tuesday, especially because I am taking a plane tomorrow to go on holiday.” The Belgian authorities also announced that three men had been arrested in Brussels on Friday, as the inquiry into the bombings that devastated the Belgian capital widened to encompass investigations in France, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands.
Schaerbeek has emerged as a node in the investigation. On Dec. 10, in an apartment on Rue Henri Bergé, investigators found bomb-making equipment; a fingerprint of Salah Abdeslam, now accused of being one of the men who attacked Paris on Nov. 13; and DNA belonging to a man who has since been identified as Najim Laachraoui, who may have been one of the Brussels attackers. On Tuesday, investigators found a trove of explosive material in an apartment building on Rue Max Roos. In a trash can outside, they found a computer with a document by Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, 29, who had blown himself up hours earlier at Brussels Airport. On Thursday night, the French authorities arrested Reda Kriket, an Islamic State operative who, according to court records, raised money for jihad and traveled to Syria in late 2014. Mr. Kriket was well known to the security services in both France and Belgium, and he was named in a 2015 court proceeding along with Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who was the on-the-ground chief planner of the Paris attacks.
The new raid in Schaerbeek was the latest in a fast-moving series of police operations. According to a French court transcript, “Reda Kriket appears to have played an important role in financing and providing material support to the group.” it said he had raised the funds through fraud and petty theft. In July, Mr. Kriket was convicted in France in absentia of terrorist activities and possession of stolen goods.
On Thursday night, the Belgian authorities held six people for questioning after raids in central Brussels and in the Schaerbeek and Jette neighborhoods of the city, all in connection with the investigation into the Tuesday attacks. Further details were expected later on Friday. The French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, said that Mr. Kriket, described as being part of a circle of militants that included Mr. Abaaoud, had been involved in the “advanced stages” of a new terrorist plot.
Around the same time, at a raid on an apartment building in Argenteuil, northwest of Paris, the authorities seized a Frenchman — identified in news reports as Reda Kriket, 34 — on suspicion of involvement in a terrorist plot in the “advanced stages” of planning. The three men who were arrested in Belgium on Friday were all being questioned about possible connections to Mr. Kriket.
Also on Thursday evening, the police in Düsseldorf, Germany, arrested a man long known to the authorities for having ties to Salafists in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state, to prevent him from fleeing to Syria, a spokesman for the state prosecutor said. Also on Thursday night, the police in Düsseldorf arrested a 28-year-old German long known to the authorities for having ties to Islamist extremists in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state. They were acting to prevent him from fleeing to Syria, a spokesman for the state prosecutor said.
German news media reported on Friday that the federal police had arrested a 28-year-old Moroccan during a routine identity check at a train station in Giessen, in the west of the country, on Wednesday. The suspect has a criminal record in Germany and Italy, the news reports said, and he was carrying papers indicating that he had been hospitalized for an unexplained injury on March 18 — the same day that Mr. Abdeslam was captured in Brussels. Turkey deported the German man and one of the Brussels suicide bombers — Khalid el-Bakraoui, 27, who blew himself up in the subway — to the Netherlands last year, German news media and security officials said. “It is not clear whether they knew each other, and, if so, how well,” said Ralf Herrenbrück, a spokesman for the state prosecutor’s office in Düsseldorf. The German man was sentenced to two and a half years in prison earlier this month for a robbery, but had not yet started his sentence, the Germans said.
Further investigation led the authorities to suspect that the man may have links to the attackers in Brussels, including a text message on his phone with the word “fin,” French for “end,” received on Tuesday, shortly before the attacks in Brussels, the public broadcaster ARD reported. A further message contained the name Khalid el-Bakraoui, according to the newsweekly Der Spiegel. Mr. Bakraoui, 27, blew himself up in a Brussels subway station on Tuesday. German news media reported on Friday that the federal police had arrested a 28-year-old Moroccan during a routine identity check at a train station in Giessen, in the west of the country, on Wednesday. The suspect has a criminal record in Germany and Italy, the reports said, and had papers on him indicating that he had been hospitalized for an unexplained injury on March 18, the same day that Mr. Abdeslam was arrested in Brussels.
Criminal investigators for the state of Hesse, where Giessen is, were unable to confirm the reports on Friday, because the case had been transferred to state prosecutors, who were not immediately available for comment, because of the Good Friday holiday. Further investigation led the authorities to suspect that the man might have links to the attackers in Brussels, including a text message on his phone with the word “fin,” French for “end,” received on Tuesday, shortly before the attacks in Brussels, the public broadcaster ARD reported. A further message contained the name Khalid el-Bakraoui, according to the newsweekly Der Spiegel.
Also, Spanish and Dutch news agencies reported that European intelligence authorities were searching for Naïm al-Hamed, a 28-year-old Syrian, as part of an investigation into the Brussels attacks. Mr. Hamed was said to be linked to Mr. Laachraoui, Khalid el-Bakraoui and a third suspect, Mohamed Abrini. Criminal investigators for the state of Hesse, where Giessen is, were unable to confirm the reports on Friday, because the case had been transferred to state prosecutors, who were not immediately available for comment because of the Good Friday holiday.
Also, Spanish and Dutch news agencies reported that European intelligence authorities were searching for Naïm al-Hamed, a 28-year-old Syrian, as part of the investigations into the Brussels attacks. Mr. Hamed was said to be linked to Mr. Laachraoui, Khalid el-Bakraoui and a third suspect, Mohamed Abrini.
The Belgian government has come under heavy criticism for failures in intelligence, law enforcement and information sharing that have allowed Brussels to become a hub of terrorist planning in Europe.The Belgian government has come under heavy criticism for failures in intelligence, law enforcement and information sharing that have allowed Brussels to become a hub of terrorist planning in Europe.
At 2 p.m. on Friday, Interior Minister Jan Jambon and Justice Minister Koen Geens faced a parliamentary committee, whose members are expected to ask tough questions about the lapses. At 2 p.m. on Friday, Interior Minister Jan Jambon and Justice Minister Koen Geens faced a parliamentary committee, whose members were expected to ask tough questions about the lapses.
Officials have acknowledged that they should have acted on an alert last year from Turkey about Ibrahim el-Bakraoui. He was detained in Turkey near the border with Syria on suspicion of terrorist activity, but the Belgian authorities never followed up. Mr. Bakraoui was deported to the Netherlands at his request.Officials have acknowledged that they should have acted on an alert last year from Turkey about Ibrahim el-Bakraoui. He was detained in Turkey near the border with Syria on suspicion of terrorist activity, but the Belgian authorities never followed up. Mr. Bakraoui was deported to the Netherlands at his request.
In addition, the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office said that Khalid el-Bakraoui had been sought in connection with the terrorist attacks that killed 130 people in and around Paris on Nov. 13.In addition, the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office said that Khalid el-Bakraoui had been sought in connection with the terrorist attacks that killed 130 people in and around Paris on Nov. 13.