Brussels will keep unprecedented security measures in place for at least another week as it faces an imminent and serious threat of a major terrorist attack, Belgium’s prime minister, Charles Michel, has said.
Anxious inhabitants of the Belgian capital had hoped for a respite from the lockdown that has seen shops, schools and offices shut, public transport restricted, museums and theatres closed, seasonal markets cancelled, and thousands of armed police and soldiers in the streets.
Some measures – such as the closure of schools and the metro – may be lifted on Wednesday, Michel told a press conference on Monday evening. Others will remain, however, and the military deployment will be reinforced.
Belgian security services continue to hunt for Salah Abdeslam, a 26-year-old from Brussels who is suspected of having fled to his home city after playing a role in the attacks that left 130 people dead in Paris 10 days ago.
There are fears of a terrorist network planning a series of simultaneous strikes in different locations in Brussels.
Police in neighboring France said on Monday evening that they had found a device resembling a suicide belt on a street in the town of Montrouge, south of Paris. Forensic experts are working to establish its composition and whether it was linked to the attacks in the French capital. A source close to the investigation told Reuters: “It looks like a belt of explosives.”
In Brussels, Michel said the threat level in the city and the immediate surrounding region had not changed since Saturday morning, when the security measures were first imposed.
“We are very alert. The potential targets remain commercial centers and streets and public transport. But we are doing everything we can to return the situation to normal,” Michel told reporters.
“No one is happy with the situation. We are working hard to protect our citizens. There are ongoing police operations and we will be taking decisions hour by hour on the best and most appropriate measures to take.”
Though the news that schools would reopen and the metro in Brussels would “progressively” start to run later in the week will come as a relief to many locals, anxiety remains widespread.
In an official directive, schools have been told to create “safe rooms” where teachers and children can shelter if there is a terrorist attack. Joëlle Milquet, the minister of education, told reporters the advice was “preventative”.
Nearly 300,000 children missed school on Monday, while the historic centre of Brussels remained almost deserted apart from tourists. Hotels reported mass cancellations. Most cafes and restaurants remained shut. Armored vehicles guarded stations and public spaces. Hospitals cancelled all but emergency treatment.
A series of raids across Belgium on Sunday night appeared to have been at best inconclusive. Seventeen of the 21 people arrested in that operation and further raids this morning have been released without charge.
One man has been charged with involvement in the preparation of a terrorist act. Three others were charged with similar offenses last week.
No weapons or explosives were found during the recent raids, and the failure to capture Abdeslam will further undermine wavering international confidence in the competence of Belgium’s counter-terrorism agencies.
[via BBC]
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