Belgian officials now say that multiple terrorists are connected with Tuesday’s attacks in Brussels and are still at large.
In a news briefing Wednesday, Belgian terror threat official Paul Van Tigchelt told reporters the country is continuing to hold its threat alert at Level 4, indicating “danger of an imminent attack.”
Security personnel are searching for at least one terrorist directly involved in Tuesday’s attack at Zaventem Airport.
There were conflicting reports earlier in the day as to whether or not Paris bombmaker Najim Laachraoui, seen on CCTV surveillance footage prior to the explosions, was still at large. However, the issue was clarified as the day wore on, when police made it clear he was not the person in custody.
Laachraoui, 24, traveled to Syria in February 2013 and last year went with Salah Abdeslam to Hungary, according to a report in the Daily Mirror. He is alleged to have been the bomb maker in the November 13 terror attacks in Paris that killed 130 people. Laachraoui allegedly also used the pseudonym Soufiane Kayal, according to French newspaper Liberation.
DNA evidence has allegedly identified Laachraoui as one of the accomplices of Salah Abdeslam, the alleged mastermind behind the Paris attacks. His DNA was found on “several explosive belts”, in a house in Auvelais and one in Schaerbeek which was used to prepare explosives and hide Abdeslam, French media reported.
Laachraoui was seen in the footage together with two brothers who later were identified as the suicide bombers who blew up the departure hall at Zaventem Airport in Brussels.
In that attack and the one that blew up a metro station close to a building housing the headquarters of the European Union about an hour later, at least 34 people were killed, and some 270 people were wounded. The Da’esh (ISIS) terrorist organization has claimed responsibility for the attacks and warned there are more to come.