Paris terror suspect Salah Abdeslam captured in Brussels police raid

Updated

Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam has been wounded and captured in a huge anti-terror operation in Brussels after four months on the run.

French police officials and the Belgian migration minister Theo Francken confirmed his arrest on Friday.

Mr Francken tweeted: "We've got him".

Abdeslam suffered a leg injury and a second man was also injured during the operation, according to Belgian media.

The La Libre newspaper also said a third man is reportedly thought to be holed up in a building in the Molenbeek district, where some of the Paris attackers, including suspected ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud, were from.

Belgium's Prime Minister Charles Michel left the EU-Turkey migrant crisis summit amid reports of the raid.

TV footage showed armed officers descending on the area and gunshots and explosions were reported.

Fire engines and ambulances were seen driving into the gated complex, which remains under armed police guard, and a helicopter hovered overhead.

Members of the public also began to gather at the scene.

Local media said police, who were joined at the scene by the army, appeared to use grenades while eyewitness reports suggested white smoke could be seen coming from a property.

At least ten gunshots were reportedly heard.

The news came after the Belgian authorities said a man shot dead earlier this week was probably an accomplice of Abdeslam.

Fingerprints found at the address where Algerian national Mohamed Belkaid was killed suggest Abdeslam had been there too.

Two men escaped from the apartment during the gunfight with police and one of them is now thought to have been Abdeslam, 26, who fled from Paris after the terror attacks in November which killed 130 people.

Most of the Paris attackers died that night, including Abdeslam's brother Brahim, who blew himself up.

Brussels-born Abdeslam, a childhood friend of Abaaoud, is believed to have driven a group of gunmen who took part.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks.

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