Brussels Attacks Update: Names Of Victims And Attackers Revealed
Belgians are currently mourning the deaths of 31 people who were killed in ISIS-claimed twin attacks at the airport and the metro station. The attack caught everyone by surprise- the worst-ever that occurred in Europe's heartland, the EU capital of Brussels.
Latest roundups from major media outfits tell us that details of the radical operatives behind the deadly suicide bombing attacks are starting surface amid a mounting public criticism over Belgian authorities' seemingly weak response to the terror threat which had earlier struck Paris some months before.
As reported by Al Jazeera, two attackers named Brahim el-Bakraoui and Najim Laachraoui succeeded in blowing themselves up at Brussels Zaventem airport. Another unidentified attacker is currently at large after he fled from the scene following his explosives' failure to detonate. The fourth attacker was Brahim's brother, Khalid el-Bakraoui, who blasted himself to pieces at the Maelbeek metro station.
Apart from 31 confirmed deaths, hundreds more were wounded. Among the first victims who died was 37-year-old Peruvian named Adelma Tapia, Saint-Louis University student Leopold Hecht, and Wallonie-Bruxelles regional government employee Olivier Delespesse according to a report by Independent.
As a result of the perceived unpreparedness of its security forces, the Belgian government is currently fending off a barrage of criticisms leading Belgium's interior minister Jan Jambon and Justice minister Koen Geens to offer resignation after it was revealed that they were previously warned by Turkey about the ISIS militant background of one of the attackers.
"One of the attackers in Brussels is an individual we detained in Gaziantep in June 2015 and deported. We reported the deportation to the Belgian Embassy in Ankara on July 14, 2015, but he was later set free. Belgium ignored our warning that this person is a foreign fighter," remarked Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan as quoted by ABC Australia.
