Explosions and arrest after Belgian police conduct more raids in suburb of capital
Police conducted more raids in a Brussels suburb on Friday in an operation the mayor said was linked to both the airport and subway bombings that killed 31 people earlier this week and to the arrest of a man in the Paris suburbs who may have been plotting a separate attack in France.
Belgium’s state broadcaster said one person carrying a bag of explosive material was wounded and arrested in the raid in Schaerbeek.
Prime Minister Charles Michel skipped a wreath-laying ceremony at the airport with US Secretary of State John Kerry because of the ongoing police operation.
Kerry, in a hastily arranged visit to Brussels, defended Belgium’s counterterrorism efforts despite a series of security and intelligence failings in the run-up to the bombings on Tuesday.
Confirming that several FBI agents are involved in the investigation into the attacks, Kerry said the “carping” about Belgium’s shortcomings “is a little bit frantic and inappropriate.”
Top members of Belgium’s embattled government are facing criticism over the country’s counterterrorism efforts since – and before – last November’s Paris attacks, which killed 130 people and which authorities believe were plotted from Belgium.
