You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Europe
Brussels airport bombers used explosives packed in their SUITCASES, officials say
2016-03-23
[DAILYMAIL.CO.UK] The Brussels airport bombers who killed 14 people in a deadly terror attack calmly walked into the terminal with suitcases packed full of explosives before detonating them, officials have confirmed.

Two of the three men who casually wheeled their suitcases through the airport after arriving in a taxi blew themselves up, while the third is said to have dumped his nail bomb before fleeing the scene.

Belgian police are now 'actively searching' for the third suspect, who was caught on CCTV wearing a white coat and a black hat. It is unclear whether he abandoned his suicide mission after his suitcase bomb failed to detonate or whether he had planned to escape before the carnage.

One theory being probed is that he fled the airport after the first terror attack at 8am local time (7am GMT) yesterday before travelling to Maelbeek station to carry out the other blast that killed 20 people in a subway train just 79 minutes later.

Belgian police launched a major manhunt to find him yesterday as ISIS grabbed credit for the massacres, which killed 34 people in total and injured close to 200 others.

At least four devices were said to have been used in the airport bombing, including two within the suitcases which went kaboom!.

One bomb detonated beside a check-in desk where passengers pay a surcharge for overweight luggage. The second went kaboom! outside a branch of Starbucks.

A third unwent kaboom! bomb was found in the suitcase which failed to detonate, and an undetonated boom jacket was discovered among the rubble alongside two AK-47 assault rifles. The devices which failed to explode have since been dealt with by army specialists.

Zaventem mayor Francis Vermeiren confirmed the ISIS suspects checked in their explosives-packed suitcases just seconds before the atrocities, killing innocent bystanders preparing for their travels.

He said: 'They came in a taxi with their suitcases, their bombs were in their bags.

'They put their suitcases on trolleys, the first two bombs went kaboom!. The third also put his on a trolley but he must have panicked, it didn't explode.'

Belgian newspaper HLN reports a taxi driver told police he believes he unwittingly drove the bombers to the airport and was abruptly told not to touch their suitcases when he offered to help them with their luggage.

The two men whose suitcases successfully detonated -- blowing themselves up in the process - were wearing black gloves on their left hands, which security sources say would have hidden the triggers for their explosives.

It is a similar technique said to have been used by the jihadists who carried out the sickening Gay Paree massacres last November, which saw 130 innocent people killed in a string of deadly terror attacks.

The third Brussels suspect -- now believed to be on the run -- fled the terminal before the attack.

Belgian police have now launched a major manhunt for the man, and last night issued a 'wanted' poster which showed him wearing a light-coloured coat and black hat while wheeling his suitcase.

'Police are looking to identify this man. He is suspected of having committed the attack at Zaventem on Tuesday March 22,' a police front man said.

A string of anti-terror raids were also carried out across the capital, with police confirming another nail bomb, an ISIS flag and several 'chemical products' were found at a house in the Schaerbeek area.

Police swooped on a number of suspects but the Belgian Foreign Ministry said many of those behind the terror plot are 'still on the lam'.

It came after the world yesterday woke up to yet another deadly terror attack in Europe - just four months after 130 people were massacred in Gay Paree.
Posted by:Fred

#12  "First thing should be take a scalpel and remove his achilles tendons so he can't run away again."

What's wrong with using a sword?
Posted by: Canuckistan sniper   2016-03-23 17:07  

#11  That was one of the things I thought about in my tenure as a TSA supervisor; while the Kabuki theater is alive and well for the air side of things, there is nothing to prevent anybody from hitting the queues on the 'land side.'

Or a little something left in the parking garage....
Posted by: USN, Ret.   2016-03-23 16:39  

#10  One of the reasons I drive rather than fly was standing in a congested TSA screening line in Orlando. The backup created one hell of a civilian target for anyone trying a terrorist attack. Like so many cattle awaiting to be butchered.

We need a security check to get to the security check.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305   2016-03-23 12:01  

#9  The backup created one hell of a civilian target for anyone trying a terrorist attack. Like so many cattle awaiting to be butchered.
Posted by Procopius2k


Big crowds, sporting events, TSA lines.... no can do. I'm always a 'Platinum' boarding member with my F-150 and I can return fire if necessary.
Posted by: Besoeker   2016-03-23 11:33  

#8  Something must be done about reproduction.

That would be the second thing to do with the scalpel.
Posted by: CrazyFool   2016-03-23 11:30  

#7  One of the reasons I drive rather than fly was standing in a congested TSA screening line in Orlando. The backup created one hell of a civilian target for anyone trying a terrorist attack. Like so many cattle awaiting to be butchered.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2016-03-23 09:51  

#6  First thing should be take a scalpel and remove his achilles tendons so he can't run away again.

Surgery is good, but reproduction is still possible. Something must be done about reproduction.
Posted by: Besoeker   2016-03-23 09:03  

#5  It's a clock!
Posted by: Shipman   2016-03-23 09:00  

#4  First thing should be take a scalpel and remove his achilles tendons so he can't run away again.
Posted by: Whusotle Grinelet5340   2016-03-23 08:59  

#3  
Posted by: 3dc   2016-03-23 08:22  

#2  third suspect arrested this AM
Posted by: Frank G   2016-03-23 07:56  

#1  On the plus side, a little old white lady was prevented from carrying her heart medicine into the airport.

#MissionAccomplished
Posted by: charger   2016-03-23 00:12  

00:00