At least 30 killed during a terrorist attack in Brussels; ISIS takes responsibility
March 22, 2016
ISIS has taken full responsibility for the terrorist attacks killing at least 30 people and wounding 230 early this morning in an airport and subway station in Brussels, Belgium. Police have now found an unexploded bomb, other chemicals, and an Islamic flag during a house raid in Brussels shortly after the first attack.
This first explosion, which was hidden in luggage, occurred around 8 a.m. in a departure terminal at the Brussels airport. The next attack happened approximately an hour later in a car of a subway train departing from Maelbeek station. Ten were killed in the airport and 20 at the subway station. More than 230 have been wounded.
After the deadly Paris attacks in November, Europe expected to be the victim of many other similar attacks, especially Belgium.
“We were fearing terrorist attacks, and that has now happened,” Prime Minister Charles Michel of Belgium said at a news conference.
This attack comes shortly after Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the ten men who were linked to the Paris attacks that killed 130 in November, was captured in a raid in Brussels last week, not too far from the subway train hit today. Although there are no direct links of the timing of this arrest and the attack, Belgian government agencies are not ruling out that possibility yet.
Officials have now published a photograph of three men pushing luggage carts who are believed to be the suicide bombers in today’s attack. Two of these men are believed to be dead after their bombs exploded. However, one of these men’s bombs did not explode, and was later found and detonated by officials. Authorities are actively looking for this man.
Courtesy of the Belgian police
The Belgian federal prosecutor’s office later issued a statement that one of the searches found “an explosive device containing nails, among other things,” and “chemical products and a flag of the Islamic State.”
In the afternoon, ISIS claimed full responsibility.
“Islamic State fighters carried out a series of bombings with explosive belts and devices on Tuesday, targeting an airport and a central metro station in the center of the Belgian capital, Brussels, a country participating in the coalition against the Islamic State,” said Amaq, an Islamic news source. “Islamic State fighters opened fire inside the Zaventem airport, before several of them detonated their explosive belts, as a martyrdom bomber detonated his explosive belt in the Maelbeek metro station.”
President François Hollande of France also issued a public statement promising “to relentlessly fight terrorism, both internationally and internally.” Taking this attack as one that “the whole of Europe that is hit.”
The French government has ordered officials to be constantly patrolling the nations’s borders and airports. The Eiffel Tower was also lit with the colors of the Belgian flag late Tuesday night.
“This is yet another reminder that the world must unite, we must be together, regardless of nationality or race or faith in fighting against the scourge of terrorism,” President Obama said during his speech in Havana. “We can and we will defeat those who threaten the safety and security of people around the world.”
All public transportation to and inside of Belgium has been canceled. Other major areas across the United States and Europe have increased public safety in airports and national landmarks.