Belgian authorities are hunting a cousin of the El Bakraoui brothers who blew themselves up in the Brussels airport and metro attacks, a source close to the inquiry says Wednesday.
Oussama Atar, who spent years in jail in Iraq before returning to Belgium in 2012, is wanted on suspicion of involvement in the March 22 Islamic State-claimed bombings, the source tells AFP on condition of anonymity, confirming Belgian media reports.
Police arrested Atar’s mother, sister and one of his friends during raids in Brussels on August 11 but released them shortly afterwards, says the source who was not authorized to speak on the record.
Investigators have “very strong” suspicions that Belgian-Moroccan national Atar was linked to the attacks in which his cousins Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui blew themselves up with a third bomber, killing 32 people, the source says.
Atar was one of the “most wanted in Belgium and even in Europe,” the source adds.
— AFP
File: (Left to right) Khalid El Bakraoui, Ibrahim El Bakraoui and Najim Laachraoui, who carried out the deadly suicide bombings in Brussels on March 22, 2016, in a photo distributed by Belgian authorities. (Belgian Federal Police)
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
