Belgium: 2 Paris terrorists were Frenchmen living in Brussels

Two assailants who died in the Paris attacks were Frenchmen who had lived in Brussels, Belgian prosecutors said Sunday.

The Belgian authorities are holding seven people for questioning in connection with the attacks, and investigators have found that two cars used in the operation were rented in Belgium, they added.

“It appears that two French nationals, who lived in Brussels … were identified as among the attackers who died on the spot,” the federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

“In addition, two cars registered in Belgium were found in Paris, one near the Bataclan and the other near Pere Lachaise,” the statement said.

The Bataclan concert hall is where 89 people were killed, while Pere Lachaise, known for the cemetery where leading literary and other figures are buried, is nearby.

“The investigation shows that the two vehicles were rented at the beginning of the week in the Brussels area,” the statement added.

It said that a total of seven people had been detained for questioning.

“Some of them may be put before an investigating magistrate in the next few hours,” it added.

It was previously announced that police made several arrests when they carried out raids Saturday in the poor immigrant Brussels neighborhood of Molenbeek, which has been linked to past terror plots.

A video of the arrests in Belgium was posted online on Sunday.

The prosecutors did not confirm whether all of the seven were arrested in Molenbeek.

Belgian Justice Minister Koen Geens said Saturday that the arrests in Molenbeek “can be seen in connection with a grey Polo car rented in Belgium” found near the Bataclan.

At least 129 people were killed and more than 350 injured in coordinated attacks that targeted the Bataclan, various restaurants and the Stade de France stadium as President Francois Hollande was watching a France-Germany soccer friendly.