Paris attacks: 7 arrests so far in Belgium
- • The attackers: At least seven assailants from three teams are dead, and all wore explosive vests, the Paris prosecutor says. An eighth attacker was reportedly shot dead. One of the attackers has been identified by a French member of parliament as Ismael Omar Mostefai.
- • The response: French President François Hollande says the Islamic State is to blame. Three people were arrested in a car at the Belgian border, and authorities are seeking other accomplices. A car thought to have been the getaway vehicle was found Sunday, reportedly with guns inside.
7 arrests so far in Belgium
- Nov. 15, 2015 8:25 AM EST
- The Associated Press quotes a Belgian official as saying that seven people have been detained in the country so far in connection with the Paris attacks.
- The official, who spoke to The Associated Press in Brussels by phone, said two of the seven attackers who died in Paris on Friday night were French men living in Brussels, one of them in the neighborhood of St. Jans Molenbeek.
- Belgium has become a focus of the investigation as authorities have found more clues linking the attackers to the country.
- Witnesses saw a car parked near the Bataclan concert venue Friday night that had Belgian license plates, the Paris prosecutor has said. The Bataclan was the site of the deadliest attack, where 89 people were killed by at least three attackers.
- On Saturday morning, a vehicle was caught at the France-Belgium border and its occupants were detained. Additional police searches and arrests have been reported in Brussels.
- The Guardian has also reported that investigators found a discarded parking ticket in the car near the Bataclan. The ticket had been issued in the Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels.
- Molenbeek is known as a haven for jihadis, The Guardian said. And Belgium itself has been considered a "weak link" in Europe's fight against terrorism, Politico reported.
Source http://on.mash.to/1kxJd6k
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