Second suicide bomber at Brussels Airport was Islamic State bombmaker, intelligence officials say

[jpak]

Source: Washington Post

BRUSSELS — An Islamic State bombmaker whose DNA connected him to November’s Paris attacks was one of two suicide bombers at Brussels Airport, two intelligence officials said Wednesday, the strongest link yet between two Islamic State attacks that have stunned Europe with their power and planning.

Najim Laachraoui, 24, who is believed to have prepared explosives for the November Paris attacks, blew himself up at Brussels Airport on Tuesday, according to an Arab intelligence official and a European intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive findings.

Laachraoui, who Belgian prosecutors earlier Wednesday said they still believed was on the loose, joined forces in the suicide attack with Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, 29, a Belgian with an extensive criminal record. A third man who left a bomb in the airport but escaped is still at large, prosecutors said Wednesday. Bakraoui’s younger brother, Khalid el-Bakraoui, 27, carried out a suicide bombing on the Brussels metro 73 minutes after the initial attack at the airport, prosecutors said Wednesday.

The men who brought chaos and carnage to Brussels may have been spurred to act by fears that counterterrorism agents were closing in, according to a message linked to one of the suspected suicide bombers that was described by authorities Wednesday.

<more.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/belgian-authorities-identify-attackers-as-pair-of-brothers-as-manhunt-continues/2016/03/23/0c79c1ae-f064-11e5-a2a3-d4e9697917d1_story.html

[moondust]

1. Didn't want to sit in jail.

These bombers apparently figured Abdeslam would spill his guts to the police and they would all soon be sitting in jail for a long, long time.

[TeddyR]

2. Too bad

He didn't blow himself up while making the bombs instead of killing innocent civilians.

[TipTok]

3. Hard to understand why they would waste that knowledge base...

[Angel Martin]

4. that is what is alarming to me

letting him blow himself up, it must mean they have plenty more to replace him...

not good

[Democat]

5. Maybe they ran out of places to hide?

And didn't want the police to get access to him?

[TipTok]

6. I think they've shown that not to be the case...

They are well protected and survived multiple shakedown in their insular communities.

[christx30]

7. That they were protected in those communities

needs to be the subject of a very long, hard look. And anyone that so much as gave one of them a sandwich needs to go to jail for a long time.
It's not going to happen, of course. Belgium will keep doing more of them same, and get shocked when there are more bombings.