2016 Brussels police raids

None 50.8086 N 4.3145 E type:landmark title March 2017 2016 Brussels police raids the aftermath of the November 2015 Paris attacks Police raid 15/18 March 2016 Forest and Molenbeek, Belgium Salah Abdeslam and 4 other suspects arrested 15 March: 1 suspect killed 4 police officers injured 18 March: 2 suspects injured 5 arrests On 15 and 18 March 2016, Belgian police carried out raids on houses in Brussels. The raids were conducted in connection to the attacks in Paris four months earlier. In the raids, one suspect was killed and five others were arrested, including Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving member of the 10-man unit that carried out the November 2015 Paris attacks. Raids 15 March Police carried out a raid on a house in the fr Rue du Dries no/nl Driesstraat no in Forest, a municipality of Brussels.15 March 2016 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35809974 Gunfire in Brussels raid on 'Paris attacks suspects' BBC News 15 March 2016 They had received intelligence that Khalid El Bakraoui, who was wanted in connection with the Paris attacks, had rented a flat at 60, rue du Dries, under a false name.https://www.france24.com/en/20160324-three-brussels-bombers-links-paris-attacks-abdeslam-bakraoui-laachraoui Three Brussels bombers identified, all have links to Paris attacks 24 March 2016 France 24 Since the water and electricity had been cut off two weeks previously, they assumed the flat was empty.https://www.francetvinfo.fr/faits-divers/terrorisme/attaques-du-13-novembre-a-paris/enquete-sur-les-attentats-de-paris/recit-de-la-fusillade-de-forest-a-sa-capture-a-molenbeek-les-quatre-jours-qui-ont-mis-fin-a-la-cavale-de-salah-abdeslam_2570195.html De la fusillade de Forest à sa capture a Molenbeek, les quatre jours qui on mis fin à la cavale de Salah Abdeslam France Info 5 February 2018 Four Belgian police officers, accompanied by two French colleagues, arrived in the afternoon to carry out a routine search for fingerprints and other evidence, only to be met by gunfire. Two Belgian officers and a French officer were injured. The police retreated and called for reinforcements, allowing two men to escape from a first floor window at the back of the property, while a man with a Kalashnikov rifle continued to fire from a window at the front, injuring a fourth police officer. After a siege lasting three hours, a police sniper shot and killed the gunman. The dead gunman was identified by police as Algerian national Mohamed Belkaid, who had lived in Sweden and travelled to Syria in 2014.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35817793 Brussels raid over Paris attacks: Dead gunman was Algerian national BBC News 16 March 2016https://www.dn.se/nyheter/varlden/belgisk-terrorist-bodde-i-sverige/ Belgisk terrorist bodde i Sverige Belgian terrorist lived in Sweden Dagens Nyheter 17 March 2016 19 March 2016 An Islamic State (IS) flag, ammunition and detonators were found in the flat, raising fears that another attack was being planned.https://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/30/europe/inside-paris-brussels-terror-attacks/index.html The inside story of the Paris and Brussels attacks 30 October 2017 CNN One week later, El Bakraoui and four other members of the Brussels terrorist cell carried out bomb attacks at Brussels Airport and the metro. Also found in the flat were fingerprints and DNA of Abdeslam, and he was assumed to be one of the men who had escaped. 18 March After fleeing from the Rue du Dries, Abdeslam contacted a second cousin, Abid Aberkane, who took the two fugitives to his mother's flat in the fr Rue des Quatre-Vents no/nl Vier-Winden-Straat no in Molenbeek municipality of Brussels, not far from the Abdeslam family home. Aberkan was already under police surveillance, which led them to Abdeslam. On the afternoon of 18 March, police took up position outside the house and ordered the occupants of the ground floor to come out. After ten minutes, Abdeslam came out of the door and started to run off down the street. Police shot and wounded him in the leg and then arrested him. Tunisian Sofien Ayari, who was the other fugitive from the Rue du Dries flat, was arrested and sustained an injury. Belgian prosecutors said that both men were charged with participation in terrorist murder and the activities of a terrorist group.https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35860157 Paris attacks: Salah Abdeslam 'worth his weight in gold' BBC News 21 March 2016 21 March 2016 Aberkane, his wife and his mother were also arrested, with his mother being released without charge.https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35852159 Paris attacks: Salah Abdeslam 'changed suicide bomb plan' BBC News 19 March 2016 Reactions In the wake of the raid, French President François Hollande called Abdeslam's arrest "an important moment". French Prime Minister Manuel Valls also welcomed Abdeslam's arrest and added that more work needed to be done in tracking down terrorist cells in Europe.https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/19/paris-attacker-salah-abdeslam-was-supposed-to-blow-himself-up Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam 'backed out of blowing himself up' The Guardian 19 March 2016 19 March 2016 Kim Willsher Trials Abdeslam and Ayari went on trial at the Palace of Justice in Brussels on 5 February 2018 for attempted murder during the Forest shootout.https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/05/paris-attacks-suspect-salah-abdeslam-goes-on-trial-over-brussels-shootout Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam refuses to answer questions at trial 5 February 2018 The Guardian They were found guilty and on 23 April 2018 were each sentenced to 20 years in prison, the penalty requested by the prosecution.https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/23/paris-attacks-suspect-salah-abdeslam-gets-20-year-sentence-in-belgium Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam gets 20-year sentence in Belgium 23 April 2018 The Guardian In September 2021 both men went on trial along with eighteen others for their role in the Paris attacks. Abdeslam received a full-life term, while Ayari was sentenced to 30 years in prison.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-61989354 Paris trial: Salah Abdeslam guilty as historic trial ends BBC News 30 June 2022 In December 2023 they went on trial in Brussels along with eight others for the Brussels bombings.https://bx1.be/dossiers/attentats-de-bruxelles/proces-des-attentats-de-bruxelles-tout-ce-quil-faut-savoir-pour-suivre-les-audiences/ Procès des attentats de Bruxelles : tout ce qu'il faut savoir pour suivre les audiences bx1 5 December 2022 In 2022 Abid Aberkane went on trial in Brussels and received a suspended three year prison sentence for having provided a hiding place for Abdeslam.https://www.france24.com/fr/europe/20220630-trois-ans-de-prison-avec-sursis-pour-le-logeur-de-salah-abdelsam-%C3%A0-bruxelles Trois ans de prison avec sursis pour le "logeur" de Salah Abdelsam à Bruxelles 30 June 2022 France 24 See also 2015 Saint-Denis raid Brussels lockdown January 2015 anti-terrorism operations in Belgium References 30em Category:Islamic State terrorist incidents in 2016 Police Category:2016 in Brussels Category:Counterterrorism in Belgium Category:Islamic State and Belgium Category:March 2016 in Belgium 2016 Category:Law enforcement operations against Islamist groups Category:Islamic terrorism in Belgium