Brussels Bombings Expose Deep Flaws in Belgian Intelligence
SputnikNews.com
22.03.2016
The bombings at Brussels international airport and the metro came just four days after the arrest of Salah Abdeslam, one of the perpetrators of the November 13 Paris attacks, amid heightened security threat in the Belgian capital.
Intelligence agencies in Europe faced heavy criticism after it was disclosed that Abdeslam, from Belgium, was known to the law enforcement services yet managed to buy detonators in France using his driving license as proof of identity. The ringleader, Abdelhamid Abaaoud was able to return from Syria several times via the migrant route of Greece without being detected.
Many of the Paris attackers came from — or had links with — the poor district of Molenbeek, in Brussels, which was also targeted by intelligence agencies following the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January 2015.
The mayor of Molenbeek — dubbed a “terrorists’ den” because of the sheer number of jihadists living there — in November admitted receiving a list of 80 suspected Islamic militants living in the area. It included Abaaoud, who was killed outside Paris, as well as Salah Abdeslam and his brother Brahim, who blew himself up.
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