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1 of 15A policewomen searching for evidence in Molenbeek, a heavily immigrant district in Brussels, Belgium. Feb. 2011.Sébastien Van Malleghem -
2 of 15A burned car in the streets of Molenbeek, Brussels. Jan. 28, 2010.Sébastien Van Malleghem -
3 of 15A police officer searches a women in the middle of the street after a report of a street fight, Brussels. Jan. 28, 2010.Sébastien Van Malleghem -
4 of 15A suicide scene in Molenbeek, in the north of Brussels, Belgium, Feb. 1, 2011.Sébastien Van Malleghem -
5 of 15A policeman enters the kitchen of a private home, following a call advising of a family fight in Molenbeek, Brussels, Dec. 2011.Sébastien Van Malleghem -
6 of 15An old women is alive and lying on the floor of her flat in Molenbeek, Belgium on feb 25, 2010. The cops were called for a non response old women, she felt from her chair, and couldn't wake up.Sébastien Van Malleghem -
7 of 15Policemen search apartment numbers on the intercom of a building in Molenbeek, Brussels, Belgium on Feb 1, 2010.Sébastien Van Malleghem -
8 of 15Body search of a suspect by the civilian branch of the police, in a police station in Molenbeek, Brussels. Apr. 7, 2010.Sébastien Van Malleghem -
9 of 15A cop is taking fingerprints of a woman in the police station of Brussels West, Molenbeek, Belgium. Feb 25, 2010. She was involved in a fight at a snack bar.Sébastien Van Malleghem -
10 of 15Cops are preparing documents they will work on during the night, Molenbeek, Brussels, Belgium. Feb. 1, 2010.Sébastien Van Malleghem -
11 of 15One of the biggest loads of hashish seized by the civilian branch of the Brussels West Police, Molenbeek, Brussels, May, 2010.Sébastien Van Malleghem -
12 of 15Packs of drugs found in the pocket of a drug dealer. Central Police Station of Brussels Ouest, Molenbeek, Brussels, n March 2011.Sébastien Van Malleghem -
13 of 15View from the back seat window of a police car driving trough the city of Molenbeek, Brussels Ouest District, Belgium, Dec. 2011.Sébastien Van Malleghem -
14 of 15An arrest is made after police officers searched a place suspected to be a "storage house" for drug dealers. Brussels West, Belgium. Feb. 2011.Sébastien Van Malleghem -
15 of 15A police officer approaches a building after receiving an alert that potential suspects were holed up inside the building in Jette, Brussels. Jan. 2010.Sébastien Van Malleghem
In a year marred by European terror attacks, one Belgian neighborhood has gained a reputation as a breeding ground for Islamic extremism.
Molenbeek, a suburb of Brussels, is where at least four of the extremists who launched a deadly series of attacks in Paris in November grew up. The neighborhood has also been linked to the 2015 French train attack, which was broken up by passengers; the 2014 attack on the Jewish museum in Belgium; and the 2004 Madrid train bombings.
Salah Abdeslam, the last living suspect in the Paris attacks, also grew up in Molenbeek — and was captured there last week. Just four days later, Brussels came under attack again, when dozens were killed in a series of bombings claimed by ISIS.
In 2011, Sebastien Van Malleghem, a Belgian photographer, visited Molenbeek for a project on law and order. His images, which were shot as Van Malleghem shadowed local police officers, offer a stark look inside the community and its relationship with law enforcement.
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