UPDATE 8:50 p.m. IST -- Two more people were arrested in Belgium in connection with a foiled terror plot in France, bringing the total number of arrests in Friday's raid in Brussels to three.
UPDATE 8:35 p.m. IST -- Belgian prosecutors confirmed Friday Najim Laachraoui was the second bomber at the Zaventem airport Tuesday. Laachraoui had been identified as a suspect linked to the Paris attacks and is believed to have worked on the explosive belts used in the attacks.
Belgian officials said Laachraoui's DNA was found at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris where attackers killed 89 people Nov. 13, 2015, according to AFP.
UPDATE 7:38 p.m. IST -- A suspect has been arrested in the anti-terror raids in Belgium, as per reports. The raid has been linked to the suspect arrested in Paris Thursday over a terror plot, according to AFP.
Original story:
Explosions were reportedly heard during a police raid in Brussels' Schaerbeek area Friday and one person was "neutralised", according to the local media. Several people were arrested from the same neighbourhood Thursday, after the airport and metro bombings that killed over 30 people Tuesday.
The Belgian state broadcaster reported two blasts during police raids in Schaerbeek, according to the Associated Press. Earlier this week, the police had found bomb-making material in a house in the area.
In more terror-related arrests in Europe following the Brussels blasts, Germany reportedly arrested two suspects said to be linked to Tuesday's blasts.
Germany's Der Spiegel magazine reported Friday two people were arrested, of whom one had apparently received phone messages mentioning the name of Brussels metro bomber Khalid El Bakraoui just minutes before he detonated explosives at the Maelbeek metyro station, according to Reuters.
One of the messages also had the word "fin" ["end" in French] and was received by the suspect just three minutes before the Brussels metro blast. At least 20 people were killed in the blast, while over 10 others were killed in a suicide bombing at the Brussels airport Tuesday. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Belgium admitted to "errors" over ignoring warnings from Turkey about Brussels airport bomber Brahim el-Bakraoui, who had been arrested and deported from Turkey and described as a "foreign fighter," according to BBC.
