Another suspect linked to Paris attacks arrested
In Turkey, authorities detained three suspected Islamic State militants, including a 26-year-old Belgian of Moroccan descent.
The private Dogan news agency identified the Belgian as Ahmet Dahmani and said he is suspected of having explored areas in Paris that were attacked last week.
The report said two other men, both Syrian citizens, were also detained on a nearby highway on suspicion that they had been sent by Islamic State in Syria to ensure the man’s safe passage across the border and were planning to meet him.
Belgium has raised terror alert across the country to the highest extent after getting the news that a gunman affiliated from ISIS and involved in Paris attacks is hiding in the Brussels area.
The U.S. State Department advised Americans there to be cautious.
“The Paris attacks happened and this incident is progressing in various directions…” Though he’s a French national, he was born in Belgium.
Belgium has been a focal point for investigations and raids since the Paris attacks.
Belgium’s capital entered a security lockdown Saturday as the government warned of a threat of a repeat of Paris-style attacks, with subways in Brussels closed and heavily armed police and soldiers deployed. He was killed during a raid that shook the Saint-Denis neighborhood outside Paris and collapsed an entire floor of an apartment building.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Abaaoud “played a decisive role” in the Paris attacks and played a part in four of six terrorist attacks foiled since spring, with one alleged jihadist claiming Abaaoud had trained him personally.
Officers are still looking for Salah Abdelslam, who is suspected of involvement either with the attack on restaurants or the Stade de France.
The French Parliament on Friday extended its state of emergency by three months, following last week’s terror attacks that left 130 people dead. No other details surrounding the arrest could be divulged at this time because it could impede the capture of other potential suspects, he said.
The detained suspect was being questioned at the prosecutor’s office on Saturday. And the Paris prosecutor’s office told CNN that police were searching the mother’s home.
The United Nations Security Council on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution offered by France that is meant to gather worldwide support for counterterrorism efforts, specifically aimed at ISIS.
Cameron’s office said Saturday the two leaders will discuss how to cooperate in the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.