Belgium has begun three days of mourning after at least 31 people died and more than 200 others were injured Tuesday in bombings targeting the Brussels Airport and a crowded subway station near the headquarters of the European Union. ISIS took responsibility for the Brussels bombings and claimed more would follow. The attacks took place just days after authorities arrested Salah Abdeslam, a suspect in the November Paris attacks that killed 130 people. A massive manhunt is now underway for a 24-year-old Belgian man named Najim Laachraoui, who is suspected of being involved in both Tuesday’s attack as well as the Paris bombings. Belgian media has also reported two brothers, Khalid and Brahim el-Bakraoui, as being involved in the bombings. Both are believed to have blown themselves up in the attack. Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel condemned the explosions.
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel: “I really want to say, with the greatest force, to those who have chosen to support a barbaric enemy of liberty, democracy and fundamental values—to say to them that we will remain united and assembled, that today we’ll be fully mobilized, with a profound pain in our hearts but with full and whole determination to act to protect liberty, to protect our way of life.”
We’ll have more on the Brussels attacks after headlines.