Explosions
and gunfire rang out Friday afternoon in Brussels -- the focal point in
Europe's fight against terrorism following the bloody attacks there
just three days ago.
A police
operation took place in the district of Schaerbeek, near where a taxi
driver on Tuesday picked up three men and brought them to Brussels
Airport. There, two of those carried out suicide bombings while
authorities think the other escaped; about an hour later, a fresh blast
rocked a train near the Maelbeek metro station.
Witnesses told CNN they heard two explosions, while others reported gunfire.
One
man said that his son, who has a shop inside the closed-off area, saw
an armed individual emerging from a metro shop who was then shot in the
leg by police.
The operation ended
with the arrest of one person linked to Tuesday's terrorist attacks in
the Belgian capital, Schaerbeek Mayor Bernard Clerfayt told Belgian
public broadcaster RTBF.
The
mayor said that arrested person was wounded. It was not clear if that
individual was the same one the shopkeeper saw shot in the leg.
Authorities
earlier conducted searches in Schaerbeek for several hours Thursday
into Friday morning, sealing off streets for several blocks. At one
point, masked teams in hazmat gear could be seen exiting a building and
heading toward a police van.
And
-- acting on the taxi driver's tip -- they'd raided a Schaerbeek
apartment days earlier and uncovered 15 kilograms of the explosive TATP,
chemicals, a suitcase with nails and screws, an ISIS flag and other
equipment meant to make explosives, according to Belgian federal
prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw.
Van
Leeuw also noted police found, on a computer in a nearby trash can, the
will of one of the airport suicide bombers, Ibrahim El Bakraoui.
Can Europe stop the next attack?
These
kinds of police actions suggest authorities' urgency not only to learn
more about what happened Tuesday in Brussels, but to prevent the next
attack.
At least six people were arrested overnight in Belgium, while a man in France suspected of being in an "advance stage" of planning
his own attack was also detained. Afterward, law enforcement found 2
kilograms (4.4 pounds) of TATP and a Kalashnikov rifle were found in a
raid in Argenteuil on Paris' outskirts, a source briefed on the
investigation said.
Investigators know of additional plots in Europe, in various stages of planning, linked to the same networks behind November's Paris attacks and the latest ones in Brussels that left 31 people dead and 300 more wounded, according to U.S. counterterrorism officials. Those terrorists are tied to ISIS, the Islamist extremist group that's taken over swaths of Syria and Iraq while also lashing out elsewhere around the world.
There's
also a growing feeling that those opposing ISIS can do more. Some of
this relates to continuing military efforts in the Middle East. Some has
to do with better intelligence and cooperation among allies.
Belgium,
especially, has come under fire. Interior Minister Jan Jambon offered
to resign after acknowledging missed opportunities to stop one of the
suicide bombers, Ibrahim El Bakraoui. And Prime Minister Charles Michel
said he talked with Kerry about how "to do better (and) work together to
be more efficient."
Michel added, "We need to accept that we need to improve the fight against terrorism in Europe and in Belgium."
Faces of fear and hope
Who are the Brussels victims?
Unraveling the web of the attacks
Survivors tell their stories
How officials failed to join the dots
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