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Paris Attacks: Attack Is Imminent, Belgian City Of Brussels On Highest Terror Alert [Video]

By Phyllis Asinyanbi
Published on: 04:28 PST, Nov 22, 2015

Over one week after the Paris attacks, investigations are unfolding that the attacks were planned in Brussels, the capital city of nearby Belgium. Since Friday, officials in Brussels have said the city is now in a state of highest alert and a “Paris-style” attack, using guns and explosives, is imminent.

Per Rudi Vervoort, Minister-President of Brussels, the government raised the alert level on Friday, November 20, because of an “imminent threat,” noted ABC News. The nation’s security council reconvened Sunday afternoon and decided the alert continues throughout Monday, with Brussel’s subways and schools remaining closed because of “serious and imminent” threat of multiple attacks. Residents, similar to after the Paris attacks, have been warned to stay away from crowded areas. The U.S. Embassy in Brussels has also advised Americans to remain at home.

Raids were conducted in Brussels following the Paris attacks that killed 130 and injured 350, on Friday, November 13. Police issued an arrest warrant for Salah Abdeslam, a Belgian-born French national, who left Paris and returned to his hometown of Molenbeek, a poor suburb in the Brussels area. The Inquisitr reported that after the attacks in Paris, Abdeslam remains at large and is now the most wanted man in Europe. His brother, Brahim, was one of the terrorists who blew himself up shortly after the attacks.

Two of Abdeslam’s friends, Hamza Attou and Mohammed Amri, have been arrested and indicted in the Paris attacks, and this has led to more information on the circumstances surrounding Abdeslam’s fugitive status, per the BBC. It is believed that Abdeslam, 26, rented a Volkswagen Polo car in Belgium, which was found near the Bataclan Theater, where 89 people were killed. It is unclear whether he acted as a driver or a shooter, and the car was abandoned in a Paris suburb.

Per Attou’s defense lawyer, Carine Couquelet, the day after the attacks, Abdeslam was picked up by Attou and Amri, who drove Abdeslam from Paris to Brussels, added the BBC. Couquelet said her client told her that Abdeslam was “extremely agitated” after the attacks, and seemed “perhaps ready to blow himself up.” Reportedly, when stopped at the France-Belgium border for an identity-paper check, despite alleged involvement in the attacks, Abdeslam was calm, although Attou was fearful after a brief conversation with Abdeslam, the BBC also noted.

One of the indicted accomplices said Abdeslam was wearing “a big jacket, maybe a bomb belt,” and was anxious, leading authorities to believe he backed out of a terrorist, suicide mission after the Paris attacks. The Inquisitr also reported that Abdeslam is not only wanted by French authorities but also fears retribution from ISIS, because he failed to follow through on “martyrdom.”

Investigators continue unraveling Abdeslam’s role in the Paris attacks. As the international manhunt continues, those who knew Abdeslam are shocked concerning his implication. Per News.com.au, patrons of a Brussels gay bar said he was a regular who drank alcohol, smoked hashish, and flirted with other men. He also played video games for long hours in a Moleenbeek bar formerly owned by himself and killed brother, Brahim.

Another brother of Salah Abdeslam, Mohamad, who has been cleared of involvement in the Paris attacks, said he believes Salah is “not far away,” which has led authorities to believe he is hiding in Brussels, News.com.au also noted. Mohamad has urged his brother to turn himself in to authorities. Friends say Abdeslam recently contacted them via Skype.

While authorities continue to hunt down Salah, Ahmad Dahmani, 26, a Moroccan-born Belgian, who is believed to have scouted out the locations for the Paris attacks, was arrested Saturday in Turkey as he tried to flee to Syria. Two Syrians were also arrested for helping Dahmani.

The Paris attacks were executed by ISIS, and the terrorists are believed to have been trained in Syria, an ISIS stronghold.

[Image via ABCnews.go/Screenshot, Virginia Mayo/AP Photo]

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