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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
World
Lizzie Dearden

Brussels attacks: 'Suspect neutralised after explosions and gunfire heard' during police operation in Schaerbeek

A terror suspect has been "neutralised" during a police operation in Brussels as investigations continue into Tuesday's bombings.

Witnesses described hearing at least two explosions and gunfire at the start of the raid in Schaerbeek on Saturday, where a suspect was shot and detained by police.

Belgium's public broadcaster,  RBTFreported that the man was carrying a bag believed to contain explosives, while other outlets claimed he had emerged from an underpass carrying a machine gun.

Footage of the raid showed him lying injured on the ground by tram tracks, as a bomb disposal robot approached.

A local resident who gave his name as Marios told the BBC he heard gunshots.

“I heard two very loud shots, I don't know what they were,” he said. “Immediately within seconds police arrived...the streets were evacuated.”

Bernard Clerfayt, the mayor of Schaerbeek, said a person linked to the Brussels attacks was shot in the leg and had been arrested but there was no immediate confirmation from police.

Other reports said the suspect was linked to a new terror plot uncovered in France on Friday.

Mr Clerfayt said all blasts were controlled explosions carried out as a precaution by specialist bomb squads, who were seen operating a robot in the area.

The area was closed of and a nearby tram was evacuated as armed police and military vehicles were seen in the area. 

Police use a robotic device as they take part in a search in the Brussels borough of Schaerbeek following Tuesday's bombings in Brussels, Belgium, March 24, 2016. (Reuters)

Local residents were been told to say inside their homes and a large security cordon was been put in place.

Belgian police arrested seven people overnight as part of ongoing investigations into Tuesday's attacks, while two more suspects were arrested in Germany and one more in France.

Isis suicide bombers killed at least 31 people and wounding almost 300 more in blasts at Brussels Airport and Maelbeek Metro station.

Investigators believe the massacres may have been carried out by the same terror cell responsible for the Paris attacks in November.

The Belgian federal prosecutor's office said six people were held during searches in the Brussels neighbourhoods of Schaerbeek and Jette overnight, as well as in the centre of the Belgian capital. A seventh man was reportedly arrested in the Forest area of Brussels early on Friday morning.

One of the suspects arrested in Germany had received phone messages with the name of the Metro station bomber and the word “fin” - French for “end” - three minutes before the blast, Der Spiegel reported. 

In Paris, 34-year-old Reda Kriket was arrested on allegations he was at an “advanced stage” of plotting an attack. The French national wad convicted for membership of a jihadist network in absentia last year, alongside Paris attacks ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud.

Additional reporting by agencies

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