Brussels Remains on Lockdown Amid Terror-Attack Fears Authorities to reassess heightened terror alert Sunday afternoon By Natalia Drozdiak….See note please
http://www.wsj.com/articles/brussels-remains-on-lockdown-amid-terror-attack-fears-1448188841
On 9/11 my husband and I and two friends were happily enjoying brunch in a Brussels Cafe. When the news of the attack broke, the patrons cheered…rsk
BRUSSELS—The terror alert that has partially locked down Brussels entered a second day as the country’s interior minister said the threat to Belgium was broader than the manhunt for a suspect involved in the Paris attacks.
Belgian officials over the weekend deployed troops, shut the city’s metro system and entreated stores and cafes to close, after raising the security threat level for the city to four, its maximum level.
The Belgian Crisis Center is slated to reassess the threat level on Sunday afternoon.
Officials said the alert level was raised after authorities developed information that an attack similar to those that shook Paris on Nov. 13, killing 130 people, was potentially imminent.
Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon in part attributed the elevated alert level and stepped-up police activity to the search for multiple terrorism suspects.
“It’s understood that there were several suspects—that’s also why [we called for] a big concentration of force,” Mr. Jambon told VRT news, a Belgian television station.
Authorities are hunting for Salah Abdeslam , 26 years old, who is suspected of renting a car used in the Paris attacks.
Two other men, Hamza Attou and Mohamed Amri, have been arrested after driving Mr. Abdeslam back to Belgium from Paris. One of the men said he thought Mr. Abdeslam may have been wearing explosives and was ready to detonate himself.
But the minister said the threat of a follow-up attack to Paris wouldn’t necessarily end if Mr. Abdeslam were captured.
“Unfortunately, it’s a threat that goes beyond just that individual,” he said.
The U.S. Embassy in Belgium on Sunday reiterated its advice to American citizens to remain in their homes and avoid crowded public areas in Brussels. “If you were planning to attend an event today, we strongly urge you to reconsider,” it said.
The impact of the raised terror alert—with instructions by officials to close some shops and cafes—was less noticeable on Sunday, when most businesses in the capital are typically closed anyway.
But one big test will be whether the metro system starts running again Monday morning, when many of the capital’s more than one million inhabitants depend on public transport to get to work.
Citizens were using social media and a specially created hotline to get information on the latest developments from the crisis center and public transport authorities.
Brussels’ public transportation service said subways would likely be shut at least until Monday but that they would evaluate again on Sunday afternoon.
Belgian authorities over the past week have raided residences across Brussels in their probe for more clues about some of the suspected Paris attackers, who appear to have planned that onslaught in Belgium.
Belgian prosecutors on Friday said one person had been charged in connection with the attacks and had been placed in custody. Prosecutors said they found weapons, but no explosives, after authorities searched the person’s home.
They declined to provide more details, but said the arrest was directly related to the Paris attacks.
—Valentina Pop and Gabriele Steinhauser contributed to this article.
Comments are closed.
