Paris Attacks News Update: Belgian Officials Arrest Suspects of Paris Attack
As the investigations on Friday's Paris attacks continue to progress, more details are starting to surface, including the suspects, which have been identified to be based in Belgium. Belgian officials report that they have started arresting the suspects although one is still at large.
The Jerusalem Post reports that Belgian officials have arrested seven suspected individuals, who they believe are involved in the recent Paris attacks that killed 130 people on Friday. The search and arrests were made on Sunday. However, one suspect is still on the loose.
The missing suspect is 26-year-old French national Salah Abdeslam, and the police are currently searching for him. According to authorities, Abdeslam was born in Brussels and allegedly helped organize the Paris attacks.
Meanwhile, the Jerusalem Post revealed that Abdeslam was previously captured, but he somehow escaped the police after presenting an ID and being briefly questioned.
Right now, the search continues in Brussels. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls announced on Monday via RTL radio, "We are making use of the legal framework of the state of emergency to question people who are part of the radical jihadist movement...and all those who advocate hate of the republic."
The Washington Post further reveals a new development in the investigations, linking a specific Muslim neighborhood in Molenbeek, Belgium. The said area is known to be one of the main breeding grounds of Islamic State, the militant group allegedly behind the Paris attacks.
Apparently, it was where the police arrested the seven suspected individuals involved in the attacks. The police followed a vehicle that had one of Abdeslam's two brothers and they were directed to a neighbourhood in Molenbeek.
"There is almost always a link with Molenbeek. That's a gigantic problem of course," Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said on Belgian television Sunday morning as quoted by the Washington Post.
Michel further revealed that the Belgian government "has already taken a number of initiatives at the preventive level. But in addition, there needs to be more repression." He added, "We're going to work hard on that."
Furthermore, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said in Paris on Sunday that the attackers were indeed based in Belgium. "The terrible attacks that were directed against us on Friday were prepared abroad by a group of individuals based in Belgium who, as the investigation will show, benefited from accomplices in France," he said as quoted by the Washington Post.
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