Brothers Khalid and Ibrahim el Bakraoui have been named in local media as the suicide bombers in Tuesday’s attacks in Brussels that killed about 34 people and injured more than 100.
Belgian public broadcaster RTBF said police sources had confirmed the names of the two men, who were previously known to local police, the BBC reports.
Two explosions were detonated in the busy departures hall of Brussels Zaventem Airport on Tuesday morning and were shortly followed by another deadly blast at the Maelbeek Metro station, which is close to the European Union’s headquarters. The latest reports estimate that at least 11 people were killed at the airport and 20 in the metro explosion.
A third would-be bomber is said to have escaped the airport without detonating his explosives-packed suitcase. On Wednesday, authorities reportedly detained a man named Najim Laachraoui, according to Reuters. Laachraoui was wanted by police before Tuesday and has been named as a bomb maker and an accomplice of Salah Abdeslam.
Tuesday’s attacks came after Belgian police arrested Abdeslam, a key suspect in the deadly Paris terror attacks in November. Police have said they found a fingerprint of Abdelslam at an apartment rented by Khalid el Bakraoui.
The extremist group Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
This is a developing story.
[BBC]
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