Paris attacks suspect arrested in Belgium
Dushanbe, 19.03.2016. (NIAT “Khovar”). — Salah Abdeslam, a suspect in the Paris attacks in November of last year and the most wanted man in Europe, was arrested Friday in Belgium, Belgian federal police have confirmed.
Abdeslam was taken to Saint-Pierre University Hospital in Brussels to be treated for a gunshot injury to his leg, according to Belgian national television station RTBF.
The police operation is still ongoing and two strong explosions were heard in the Brussels municipality of Molenbeek, some media reported.
Abdeslam was arrested along with another suspect earlier this afternoon during the large-scale police operation.
Friday’s operation follows a raid on Tuesday in the Brussels district of Forest in which one suspect was killed. Abdeslam’s fingerprints were later found in the raided apartment. He was believed to have been hiding there for several months. So far, all indications are that he was one of the two suspects who managed to escape after the police action on Tuesday.
Abdeslam is suspected of involvement in attacks in Paris as having provided logistics for the other attackers. The attacks killed 130 people at multiple locations in Paris on Nov. 13.
In the aftermath of the Paris attacks, two people thought to be accomplices of Abdeslam exfiltrated him from France to Belgium. They were checked several times by police but were not apprehended as the name of Abdeslam had not yet been connected to the events in Paris.