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11/21/2024 10:29:09 pm

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Police Sweep Brussels in Hunt for Paris Attack Suspects

Police sweep Brussels

(Photo : KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / Getty Images) Belgian authorities have conducted a raid on the infamous Molenbook neighborhood in Brussels, where one of the masterminds in the recent Paris attacks is believed to have lived.

As French authorities continued DNA tests to determine whether a Belgian man, who is suspected to be the main organizer of the recent terror attacks in Paris, died in an explosion, six raids have been made in Belgium in relation to Bilal Hadfi - one of the Paris attackers who died during the seige.

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The latest search for the suspects comess as the French Prime Minisiter Manuel Valls warned that a rumored attack using chemical and biological weapons in France could not be ruled out. He told the public that the country's security agencies are taking extra precautions to ensure there is never a repeat of last weeks incidents.

Some of Thursday's raids are being conducted in the Brussels area of Molenbeek. The area has been highlighted repeatedly during investigations into the attacks in Paris that had left 129 innocent people dead.

Molenbeek was home to Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian national who is believed to be the mastermind of the Paris Terrorist attacks. He may have died after detonating a suicide vest in a cafe on Friday.

On Wednesday, after countless rumors, French prosecutor Francois Molins said that Mr. Abaaoud has not been taken into custody. French officials are currently conducting DNA tests on the bodies found in a suburb of Paris after a raid earlier this week. The raid resulted to a number of casualties, including a young woman who allegedly blew herself up using a suicide vest after screaming that Abaaout was not her boyfriend.

Meanwhile in Belgium, officials have announced that they will be taking extra security measures to strengthen the country's fight against terrorism.

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