2016 Brussels bombings

On the morning of 22 March 2016, three coordinated nail bombings occurred in Belgium: two at Brussels Airport in Zaventem, and one at Maalbeek metro station in Brussels. In these attacks, 32 victims and three suicide bombers were killed, and over 300 people were injured. Another bomb was found during a search of the airport. Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the attacks. The bombings were the deadliest act of terrorism in Belgium's history. The Belgian government declared three days of national mourning. Background: Belgium is a participant in the ongoing military intervention against ISIL, during the Iraqi Civil War. On 5 October 2015, a Belgian F-16 dropped its first bomb on an ISIL target, east of Baghdad. On 12 November 2015, Iraq warned members of the coalition that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIL, had ordered retaliatory attacks on coalition countries. Belgium has more nationals fighting for jihadist forces as a proportion of its population than any other Western European country, with an estimated 440 Belgians having left for Syria and Iraq as of January 2015. Due to Belgium's weak security apparatus and competing intelligence agencies, it has become a hub of jihadist-recruiting and terrorist activity. Terrorist cells in Brussels: Before the bombings, several Islamist terrorist attacks had originated from Belgium, and a number of counter-terrorist operations had been carried out there. In May 2014, a gunman with ties to the Syrian Civil War attacked the Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels, killing four people. In January 2015, anti-terrorist operations against a group thought to be planning a second Charlie Hebdo shooting had included raids in Brussels and Zaventem. The operation resulted in the deaths of two suspects. In August 2015, a suspected terrorist shot and stabbed passengers aboard a high-speed train on its way from Amsterdam to Paris via Brussels, before he was subdued by passengers. The perpetrators involved in the November 2015 attacks in Paris were based in Molenbeek, and Brussels was locked down for five days to allow the police to search for suspects. On 18 March 2016, Salah Abdeslam, a suspected accomplice in those attacks, was captured after two anti-terrorist raids in Molenbeek that killed another suspect and injured two others. At least one other suspect remains at large. During interrogation, Abdeslam was presented with photographs of the Bakraoui siblings, who would later be suspected of committing the attacks in Brussels three days later. Belgian investigators believe that Abdeslam's arrest may have hastened the Brussels bombings. According to the Belgian Interior Minister, Jan Jambon, who spoke after the bombings, authorities knew of preparations for an extremist act in Europe, but they underestimated the scale of the attack. Bombings: There were three coordinated nail bombings: two at Brussels Airport, and one at Maalbeek metro station. Brussels Airport: There were two explosions in the international departure hall at Brussels Airport in Zaventem, at 07:58 local time: one near the British Airways and Iberia check-in desks, and the other between a Starbucks coffee shop and Brussels Airlines check-in desks. The explosion shattered windows, and significant damage occurred inside the building. It was reported that shots were fired, and an airport worker said he "heard someone yelling in Arabic before the blasts". A third bomb was found in a search of the airport and was later destroyed by a controlled explosion. Belgium's federal prosecutor confirmed that the suicide bombers had detonated nail bombs. After the attack, the Belgian government put the country on its highest terror threat level. The airport was closed, and all flight departures and rail journeys to the airport were cancelled. The airport was to remain closed until 24 March, but this was eventually extended to 28 March. All inbound flights were either cancelled or diverted to nearby airports, including Charleroi, Ostend–Bruges, and Schiphol. Maalbeek metro station: Another explosion took place just over an hour later in the middle carriage of a three-carriage train at Maalbeek metro station, located near the European Commission headquarters in the centre of Brussels, 10 kilometres (6 mi) from Brussels Airport. The explosion occurred at 09:11 CET. The train was travelling on line 5 towards the city centre, and was pulling out of the Maalbeek station when the bomb exploded. The driver immediately stopped the train and helped to evacuate the passengers. The Brussels Metro was subsequently shut down at 09:27. Victims: In the bombings, 35 people, including three suicide bombers, were killed and over 300 others were injured, 62 critically. Including the attackers, seventeen bodies were recovered at Brussels Airport and fourteen at the metro station. Four people later died of their wounds in hospital. Eighty-one others were injured at the airport, while the rest were injured at the metro station. The bombings were the deadliest act of terrorism in Belgium's history. Sixteen of the deceased were Belgian nationals, while the remaining twelve were from eight different nations. Among the fatalities at Zaventem was André Adam, former Belgian Permanent Representative to the United Nations and, later, former Ambassador to the United States. Suspects: Two brothers, Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui, are believed to have carried out two suicide bombings during the attacks. In security camera video of the airport, Ibrahim is seen with two other men;one of them was identified as Najim Laachraoui, who also carried out a suicide bombing during the attacks. All three identified suspects were linked to the same terrorist cell that plotted the attacks in Paris in November 2015. Ibrahim died in one of the suicide bombings at Brussels Airport, while Khalid died in the suicide bombing at the metro station. Both of them had evaded capture during a police raid in Brussels on 15 March 2016. In the airport security video, the men are seen pushing suitcases believed to have contained the bombs that exploded in the departure hall. A taxi driver who drove them to the airport said he tried to help the men with their luggage but they ordered him away. Ibrahim and Laachraoui each appear to be wearing a glove which may have concealed detonators to the explosives. Within 90 minutes of the airport attack, the area around an apartment in Schaerbeek, a northern district of Brussels, was cordoned off by police. The authorities received a tip-off from a taxi driver once they released photos of the suspects several hours after the attacks. Inside the home, they discovered a nail bomb, 15 kilograms (33 lb) of acetone peroxide, 151 litres (33 imp gal; 40 US gal) of acetone, nearly 30 litres (7 imp gal; 8 US gal) of hydrogen peroxide, other ingredients for explosives, and an ISIL flag. At least one resident had reported unusual smells to the police, resulting in Agent de Quartier policeman Philippe Swinnen visiting the building twice in three months, but not entering. Authorities also found a laptop belonging to Ibrahim El Bakraoui, inside a waste container near the house. The laptop had a suicide note stored on it, in which Ibrahim stated that he was "stressed out", felt unsafe, and was "afraid of ever-lasting eternity". It also contained images of the home and the office of the Belgian Prime Minister, Charles Michel, among information on multiple other locations in Brussels. Numerous related arrests followed after the bombings. As of 26 March, twelve men were arrested in connection with the bombings. Aftermath: Raids and searches were made across Belgium, while security was heightened in a number of countries as a result of the attacks.