Belgium arrests new suspect in Paris attacks probe

Police still searching for Salah Abdeslam, 26, allegedly involved in Nov. 13 attacks that killed 130 in French capital

Armed special forces of the Belgian police are pictured during search operations on Antoine Dansaert Street in Brussels's city center, Sunday, December 20, 2015. (Nicolas Maeterlinck/Belga/AFP)
Armed special forces of the Belgian police are pictured during search operations on Antoine Dansaert Street in Brussels's city center, Sunday, December 20, 2015. (Nicolas Maeterlinck/Belga/AFP)

BRUSSELS, Belgium – Belgian police searched a home in the center of Brussels on Sunday and made one arrest in connection with a probe into last month’s terror attacks in Paris, federal prosecutors said.

Belgian media reported that the detained suspect was not however fugitive Salah Abdeslam, who is one of Europe’s most wanted men over his alleged involvement in the November 13 attacks that left 130 dead in the French capital.

“A search is ongoing in Brussels, one person was taken in for questioning,” federal prosecutor spokesman Eric Van Der Sypt told AFP, confirming a report by Belgium’s RTBF broadcaster.

Special forces from the federal police have been sent to the scene, he added, declining to give further details about the suspect.

The search took place in a building on a street less than a kilometer away from Brussels’s central Grand Place square, one of the city’s most popular tourist sites.

Belgian police are still actively looking for 26-year-old, Brussels-born Abdeslam, suspected of having played a key role in the Paris attacks and understood to have returned to the Belgian capital the day after the bloodshed.

A source close to the Belgian investigation told AFP earlier Sunday that Abdeslam made it past three police checks when friends drove him from Paris to Brussels in the hours after the coordinated gun and suicide attacks.

Belgium has so far arrested eight people on suspicion of involvement in the terror assaults, which have been claimed and praised by the Islamic State jihadist group.

Most Popular
read more:
If you’d like to comment, join
The Times of Israel Community.
Join The Times of Israel Community
Commenting is available for paying members of The Times of Israel Community only. Please join our Community to comment and enjoy other Community benefits.
Please use the following structure: example@domain.com
Confirm Mail
Thank you! Now check your email
You are now a member of The Times of Israel Community! We sent you an email with a login link to . Once you're set up, you can start enjoying Community benefits and commenting.