UPDATE: 17:48 p.m. IST -- Another person was arrested in connection with the Brussels attacks, and is believed to be the second suspect sought in the Maelbeek metro bombing that killed 20 people Tuesday.
While the identity of the metro bombing suspect is not known, De Standaard newspaper reported Friday one of the arrested was the person caught on CCTV talking to Brussels metro suicide bomber Khalid El Bakraoui, according to the Guardian.
Original Story:
Six people were arrested Thursday from various locations in and around Brussels on suspicion of having links to the Tuesday attacks on the Zaventem airport and metro in the Belgian capital, said the federal prosecutor. Meanwhile, a French national who was in "advanced stages" of a terror attack plan was arrested from a Paris suburb Thursday.
Three people were arrested from their car in front of the federal prosecution building in the centre of Brussels, two from a different area of the capital, while one person was arrested from Jette, a municipality in Brussels. Residents of Schaerbeek reported hearing explosions as the police raided the area. However, no arrests have been made from there. The army accompanied the police during raids at Schaerbeek, reported La Libre. The police are also on the lookout for two suspects, one from the airport and the other from the metro attack, the Guardian reported.
Meanwhile, in Paris, the police arrested a man, who has reportedly served jail for recruiting Europeans as jihadis, from Argenteuil suburb of Paris. The area was put under lockdown and the residents couldn't return as heavily armed security officials conducted raids in the area. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve was quoted as saying by the Telegraph that the suspect had no links to Brussels or Paris attacks. AFP quoted police sources as saying the suspect was convicted with Paris attacks ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud in July.
"At this stage, there is no tangible evidence that links this plot to the attacks in Paris and Brussels," Cazeneuve was quoted as saying by the Guardian.
One man identified as Mohamed Abrini, who is a childhood friend of Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam, is also being searched. He was named as a suspect by the French police after it was found that he had travelled with the Paris attackers.
Responsibility for the attack, which killed almost three dozen and injured hundreds in the Belgian capital Tuesday, was claimed by terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
