Belgium makes the first arrests linked to the Paris attacks

Belgian Justice Minister Koen Geens said separately that the arrests in Molenbeek “can be seen in connection with a grey Polo vehicle rented in Belgium” found near the Bataclan.

The air raids came after President Francois Hollande called the Paris attacks – the worst in the country’s history – an “act of war” and vowed to hit back “without mercy”.

“These places are the places we visit every week”, said Ahsan Naeem, a 39-year-old filmmaker who has lived in Paris for seven years.

Belgian officials said that one of Abdeslam’s brothers, Ibrahim, had died in the Paris massacre, which killed at least 132 people.

He spoke on condition that his full name not be used out of concern for his safety.

Three Chileans also were killed, as were two people from Belgium, two from Mexico, two from Spain, one from Portugal, one from the United Kingdom and many French citizens.

Per capita, Belgium has contributed the highest number of foreign fighters to the war in Syria among European countries – more than 300 by official estimates a year ago.

An official said two of the seven attackers who died in Paris on Friday night were French men living in Brussels.

Belgian TV news reported an arrest has been made in the suburb of Molenbeek and a picture posted on Twitter showed a man being handcuffed by what appear to be plain clothes officers as he lies face down on a wall.

Prosecutors say they believe three groups of attackers were involved in the Paris carnage, raising the possibility that one group may still be at large.

A man believed to be one of the attackers in the Paris atrocities is on the run, French officials have said.

Seven terrorists were killed during the attacks, with a lot of them blowing themselves up, Molins said, correcting earlier reports of eight dead assailants.

The Islamic State group said they carried out the attacks that left a trail of destruction.

What is striking is that Belgium and more specifically Molenbeek remain a haven for jihadists despite the toughening of anti-terrorist legislation as well as the dismantling of recruitment networks and militant cells since the 1990s.

A Syrian passport found next to the body of one of the men who attacked France’s national stadium suggested that its owner passed through Greece into the European Union and on through Macedonia and Serbia last month. That was one of six near simultaneous attacks in the French capital which have deeply shocked the nation.

The extreme local devolution that has been Belgium’s answer to centrifugal communal forces pulling it apart for decades has been a factor in weakening its response to threats, said Edwin Bakker, professor at the Centre for Terrorism and Counterterrorism at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. The Charlie Hebdo attackers claimed links to extremists in Yemen, while the kosher market attacker claimed ties to the Islamic State group.