Brussels Under Highest Security Alert As Officials Search for Suspect in Paris Attacks
Belgium’s capital was put on high alert Saturday morning, after the country’s government warned of an attack on Brussels in the wake of those in Paris last week.
According to the Associated Press, the government issued the highest-possible level of alert, closing subways and stores while authorities search for at least one suspect from the deadly Paris attacks, believed to be hiding in Belgium.
Prime Minister Charles Michel said the move was “based on quite precise information about the risk of an attack like the one that happened in Paris ... where several individuals with arms and explosives launch actions, perhaps even in several places at the same time.”
Brussels, once home to the suspected organizer of the attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, is now being patrolled by heavily-armed security forces, and residents are being told to avoid crowded places.
Meanwhile in Turkey, a 26-year-old man was detained by police who believe that he scouted out the target sites for Islamic State, according to the Guardian. Two other men, both Syrian citizens, were also detained by Turkish police on suspicions that they were connected to the man.
The wave of alerts and arrests comes after a series of attacks that were more deadly than any in Paris for decades. On Friday, Prime Minister of France Manuel Valls announced that the death toll had risen to 130.
