Five more arrests in Belgium anti-terror raids

On Monday Belgian authorities charged a fourth man in relation to the Paris attacks.

“We ask our population to stay calm”.

France has meanwhile intensified its aerial bombing in Syria and defense minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, which has been sent to the Mediterranean to help combat ISIL fighters in Syria, will be “operational” from Monday and “ready to act”.

The army and police will continue to be deployed in force and the country will reduce the number of events with large crowds, for fear of a repeat of the Paris gun and suicide bomb attacks on November 13, Michel said.

Germany has kept security along its border with Belgium at a high level since the Paris attacks, a German police spokesman said after media reports that Abdeslam was spotted near the frontier.

An explosive belt has been found in a suburb south of Paris on Monday, a spokesperson for the city’s prosecutor told NBC News.

One theory was that Abdeslam had meant to blow himself up in the 18th district but had abandoned the plan, although it was not clear why.

“Shopping centers, streets, public transport” are all potential targets, Michel said.

A primary target is Salah Abdeslam, a 26-year-old French national who is the subject of a manhunt across Europe.

As authorities tried to establish Abdeslam’s movements and whereabouts, a source said he travelled through Italy in August with a companion, but his presence caused no alarm because he was not a wanted man at the time.

The prosecutor’s office said officials are working to arrest those involved in the Paris attacks as well as stop those who may be plotting new attacks.

Soldiers patrolled the streets of Brussels and police detained five more people on the third day of a security lockdown on Monday, as Belgium hunted a suspected Islamist militant who has been on the run since the attacks in Paris.

Authorities in Belgium cuffed one suspect on terrorism charges Monday after detaining 21 people in raids between Sunday night and Monday afternoon.

The Grand Place, the central square of Brussels, was evacuated because of a police operation.

Even with the alert level this high, Michel said that schools and the subway system would reopen progressively as of Wednesday. European Union institutions were also open with soldiers patrolling outside.

Interior Minister Jan Jambon said authorities are seeking “multiple suspects, which is why we’ve put such a concentration of resources in the field”. “For the metro it could be in a progressive way”, he added.

The usually bustling city was quiet over the weekend, as everything was closed to tourists and all public activities were canceled.

Francois Molins, the Paris anti-terror prosecutor who is taking centre-stage in the investigation, said the vests used in the attacks were made using TATP – acetone peroxide, a chemical easy for amateurs to produce – as well as batteries and a push-button detonator.