Attempted Terror Attack in Brussels Could Have Been A Lot Worse

Attempted Terror Attack in Brussels Could Have Been A Lot Worse

Soldiers shot and killed a man who attempted to cause mass casualties in a Brussels train station.

  • Jun 21, 2017

Brussels was, yet again, at the center of panic as a man attempted to cause mass casualties by detonating a bomb in a train station on Tuesday, June 20. Soldiers on the scene were able to shoot and kill the man after the bomb only partially detonated.

The suspect attempted to set off the bomb at 8:44 p.m. local time on a crowded station concourse below ground. The bomb was created out of a suitcase with nails and gas bottles inside; police believe the incident would have been much worse had the bomb successfully detonated. Luckily, no one was injured and the alert level remained unchanged.

Police have identified the man as a Moroccan citizen who lived in the Brussels borough of Molenbeek and had not been suspected of militant links.

Witnesses describe the incident as chaotic. They say he “grabbed the suitcase, while shouting and caused a partial explosion.” While the man was running away, up the stairs, there was a secondary explosion, more violent than the first. Again, no one was hurt. The suspect emerged from the stairs and charged a soldier who then shot and killed him.

Police later detonated the rest of the bomb in a controlled explosion after the train station had been evacuated.

Prime Minister Charles Michel insisted the country, which has been the most fertile European recruiting ground for Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, would not bow to threats that have seen combat troops become a permanent fixture at public spaces in Brussels.

"We will not let ourselves be intimidated," Michel said. "We will go on living our lives as normal."

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