Le Soir, Nov. 16, 2015
“Brussels, Jihadist Hub,” writes Belgian daily Le Soir on its Monday front page, as details about a Belgian connection to the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris are starting to emerge.
The suspected mastermind of the attacks that left at least 129 killed and 352 wounded is a 27-year-old Belgian citizen Abdelhamid Abaaoud, described as one of the “most active ISIS executioners in Syria.”
His name is connected to a series of recently foiled attacks in Belgium, and he’s also linked to the attack on a Thalys train in August, according to AP. His current location is unknown, though he’s believed to be in Syria.
As part of a manhunt in Belgium this morning for Salah Abdeslam, the brother of one of the perpetrators who is also believed to be connected to Friday’s massacres, a gunfight broke out in Molenbeek, a Brussels suburb and jihadist hub.
Abdeslam was arrested alive afterward, according to RTL Belgium. He’s a 26-year-old Belgian-born French citizen who was stopped at the French-Belgian border Saturday morning as he returned from Paris. Shockingly, the authorities knew he had rented a car that carried some of the perpetrators, but he was allowed to drive on.