Brussels attacks: Airport bombing suspect 'arrested'

Najim Laachraoui (C and R) is believed to be the man pictured at Brussels airport (L)

 

A key suspect in the attacks in Brussels has been arrested, Belgian media say, quoting judicial sources.

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Some Belgian media say he is Najim Laachraoui, thought to be the man on the right in a CCTV image taken before the Zaventem airport attack.
Two of the other attackers have been named in Belgian media as the brothers Khalid and Brahim el-Bakraoui.
Twin explosions at the airport and another at a metro station on Tuesday left about 34 dead and 250 wounded.
Belgium is observing three days of national mourning and held a minute's silence for the victims at midday (11:00 GMT).

So-called Islamic State (IS) has said it was behind the attacks and warned that more would follow.
There has been no official confirmation of the latest arrest or the identity of any of the attackers.
Newspaper La Derniere Heure said Laachraoui was detained by the police's counter-terrorism unit in the capital's Anderlecht area on Wednesday.
Analysts say Laachraoui is believed to be a key bomb maker, and French media say he also played a major role in the terrorist attacks in Paris in November that left 130 people dead.

The airport CCTV image. Brahim el-Bakraoui is believed to be in the middle and Najim Laachraoui on the right

Earlier the RTBF broadcaster identified the el-Bakraoui brothers, saying that Brahim was a suicide bomber at Zaventem airport, where about 14 people died, and Khalid was the suicide bomber at the Maelbeek metro station, where some 20 people were killed.
It said the brothers were known to police and had criminal records.

 

 

Khalid (L) and Brahim el-Bakraoui, both believed to have been suicide bombers