6 Arrested in Brussels Raids

France says it caught man in 'advanced stages' of terror plot
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 25, 2016 12:10 AM CDT
6 Arrested in Brussels Raids
Police guard a checkpoint during a raid in the suburb of Schaerbeek in Brussels on Thursday.   (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Belgian prosecutors say six people have been detained in raids around Brussels linked to this week's attacks on the city's airport and subway system. Federal prosecutors said in a statement late Thursday that the arrests were made during raids in Brussels neighborhoods, including Schaerbeek, where police found a large stash of explosives and other bomb-making material earlier this week in an apartment believed used by the suicide bombers. Schaerbeek residents described hearing detonations during the police raids, the AP reports. It was unclear whether they were explosions or controlled detonations.

In France, meanwhile, a man in the "advanced stages" of a plot to attack the country was arrested Thursday northwest of Paris, and security forces locked down the area during a major search, the country's interior minister says. Bernard Cazeneuve told reporters there were no links "at this stage" between the plot and the attacks against Brussels this week or Paris in November. Cazeneuve said bomb squads were on-site and noted that the person arrested was implicated at a "high level" in the plot, but he offered no further details. Witnesses told the AP that the immediate area had been locked down, and residents were unable to return home for hours after the raid began. (More Brussels attack stories.)

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