Know the Three Main Suspects
The terrorist attacks in Brussels airport and metro station that killed at least 35 people and maimed 230 have stunned the world today.
Many started to speculate this maybe another ISIS-related attacks against innocent people. But the investigation is still underway and police is still hunting for suspects as the city of Brussels is under alert.
A Bloomberg report said brothers Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui, both residents of Brussels, were responsible for the deadly attacks resulting in the loss of innocent lives. One suspect, identified as Najim Laachraoui, 24, one of three men filmed on closed-circuit TV wheeling baggage carts at the airport was still at large. A manhunt is underway for Laachraoui.
The brothers blew themselves up at the airport and at a metro station near the European Union headquarters.
Who are the El Bakraoui Brothers?
Suicide bombers named as the El Bakraoui brothers were known to have violent criminal records. Both were noted as gang members and not as terrorists.
For one, the older brother Khalid Bakraoui, 27, was sentenced to five years probation in for car-jackings in February 2011.
Prior to the Brussels attack, Kalid has rented a flat under a false name in the Forest suburb in Belgian capital. Just last week, his rented house was raided by Brussel police in connection with the Paris attacks.
The younger brother Ibrahim, 24, has also a criminal record for opening fire on police during a robbery incident.
The third suspect
The third suspect named Najim Laachraoui, is an alleged ISIL commander who made the suicide bombs used in the Paris terrorist attack in November. New updates of his recent arrest are still not confirmed by local authorities.
Laachraoui left for Syria in 2013. In September 2015, he was stopped on the Austria-Hungary border who by that time was traveling with Salah Abdeslam, a prominent suspect in the Paris massacres that killed 130 people last year.
Since commencing this report, there have been reports that Laachraoui had benn captured, possibly outside a pizza shop in the Anderlecht district, but that report has been retracted.
Coordinated Attacks Rock Belgian City of Brussels
Coordinated attacks hit Belgian city of Brussels that killed 35 people and injured at least 130 people. Two blasts were confirmed at the Brussels airport departure area and one in a subway station.
The terrorist attacks in Brussels triggered travel warnings and even pushed major cities in Europe and United States to raise terrorism threat levels. The Australian government warned Australians to reconsider travel to Belgium.
The bombs are believed to be packed with nails and chemicals. So who is to be blamed for the attack? Again, ISIS claimed responsibility of the coordinated strikes.
The recent attacks also drew condemnation from the United States of America. US Secretary of State, John Kerry said the attacks in Brussels are an assault against the Belgian people and the very heart of Europe.
