As we close this liveblog, here’s a round up of the latest developments:
– Reporters on the scene are saying the streets around the raided flat are starting to open again, with residents allowed to return home.
– Police were preparing to question Salah Abdeslam, a prime suspect in the November terrorist attacks on Paris, after the 26-year-old was shot in the leg and arrested in a police raid in Brussels, after four months on the run as Europe’s most wanted man.
– In a joint press conference, the French president, François Hollande, and the Belgian prime inister, Charles Michel, confirmed the arrest of Abdeslam and two others.
– After US president, Barack Obama, telephoned the Belgium PM and French president, the White House said: “The president commended the work of Belgian security services and noted that this significant arrest was the result of hard work and close cooperation between Belgian and French law enforcement authorities.
“The president reiterated that the United States stands together with Belgium and France in our shared struggle against the scourge of terrorism and once again pledged the full cooperation and support of the United States in these efforts, reaffirming our shared commitment to degrading and destroying Isil.”
Here’s a feature by Jon Henley rounding up the four-month manhunt and capture.
Our latest news story from Angelique Chrisafis is here:
Nicolas Chapuis, a journalist at Le Monde, reports that police are beginning to reopen the area and allow residents to return home:
Des rues commencent à être libérées par la police a #Molenbeek, des habitants peuvent rentrer chez eux.
— Nicolas Chapuis (@nicolaschapuis) March 18, 2016
Hollande concluded the press conference by saying the fight against terrorism will go on.
“Although this arrest is an important stage it is not the final conclusion of this story because there have been arrests already. And there will have to be more because we know that the network was quite widespread, in Belgium, in France, in other countries of Europe as well.
“So until we have arrested all those who took part or contributed, financed, that network, that terrorist network that committed the abominable attacks, the war acts of November 13, our fight will not be over until then.”
‘You got him, boys!’ says Belgian politician Jan Jambon:
You got him, boys! so proud of you. Together we can fight terrorism. @FedPol_pers FedPol_pers @PolFed_presse pic.twitter.com/mdEfxAD6R7
— Jan Jambon (@JanJambon) March 18, 2016
Hollande pays tribute to the Paris attack victims.
He said: “I have a special thought for the victims of the attacks on November 13 in Paris, because SA is directly connected to the preparation, organisation and ... the perpetration of these attacks.
“I also think of the families who have been looking forward to these arrests, whether from close range or long distance, who are connected to that abomination.”
Updated
Speaking at the joint press conference with the Belgian PM, French President François Hollande says Paris prosecutors will urgently request extradition of Abdeslam. He has “total confidence” Belgian authorities will agree.
“I know the Belgian authorities will respond quickly and favorably to our request for extradition.”
Three arrested in raid
Police arrested three people, including Salah Abdeslam in the raid in Brussels, Belgian prime minister Charles Michel has said at his joint press conference with François Hollande.
“We have just arrested Salah Abdeslam. Three suspects were arrested,” Michel said.
Updated
“Obama called Hollande to congratulate him for the intervention,” the French presidency told AFP, hours after Abdeslam was arrested in Brussels.
“Congratulations from the President of the United States. Belgium and France stand united in the fight against terrorism,” Michel said on his official twitter account, adding a picture of himself on the phone, standing beside the French president.
Updated
François Hollande and the Belgium PM are now speaking to press on the latest updates – we will bring you quotes from the conference shortly
The Prime Minister of Belgium has posted on Twitter saying US President Barack Obama has sent his ‘congratulations’:
Congratulations from @POTUS Belgium and France stand united in the fight against terrorism @fhollande @Elysee pic.twitter.com/Ktz8RfUoqV
— Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) March 18, 2016
Brett McGurk, the U.S envoy for the global coalition to counter Isis has tweeted:
Congratulations to #Belgium authorities on capture of #ISIL terrorist Saleh #Abdeslam. We will never forget his and all ISIL victims. #Paris
— Brett McGurk (@brett_mcgurk) March 18, 2016
As we wait for the press conference, you can catch up with today’s developments in our news story here:
Latest images tonight from the raid earlier, which involved heavily armed police:
Updated
Our graphics team have a put together a map and timeline detailing the manhunt for Salah Abdeslam:
Ashley Cowburn here taking over the liveblog from Ben Quinn
Third suspect captured in raid – reports
Belgian media is reporting that a third person has been arrested in the raid in Molenbeek. This follows reports that a second man was captured at the same time as Abdeslam.
Updated
Some footage is now emerging which is said to show the moment armed police arrested Salah Abdeslam.
Footage emerging said to show arrest of Salah Abdeslam in Brussels. Updates at @guardian : https://t.co/vqNoxlTmVy pic.twitter.com/xBjzQQi6qo
— Ben Quinn (@BenQuinn75) March 18, 2016
Following on from those explosions, reports from the scene suggest that police remain calm. It’s believe that they were more likely to be as a result of the scene being secured.
Updated
Salah Abdeslam was shot in the leg in the course of his detention by police, according to Ahmed El Khannouss, the deputy mayor of the Brussels neighbourhood of Molenbeek.
He said that police were still searching for another suspect who was believed to be in a house situated a few dozen yards from two schools.
Helmeted police with riot shields have cordoned off the area.
Explosions reported at scene
Journalists in the Molenbeek area are reporting hearing explosions. It’s not clear if they are the result of police follow-up operations to detonate suspect devices, or something else:
According to CNN, two explosions heard in molenbeek. "It did shake the air. Really strong," reporter said. #Brussels
— Brenda StoterBoscolo (@BrendaStoter) March 18, 2016
BREAKING: Two explosions heard in Molenbeen district of Brussels: media
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) March 18, 2016
The flat where Salah Abdeslam was detained had been occupied at one point by the mother of a friend, according to local reports (tweeted here by Brussels-based communications executive Dannis Abbott)
Flat where #SalahAbdeslam caught 'occupied by mother of one of his friends'. Operation still underway in #Molenbeek https://t.co/X0gRWO3odm
— Dennis Abbott (@DennisAbbott) March 18, 2016
That “We got him” quote from the Belgian authorities confirming the arrest of Abdeslam, is now being attributed to Belgium’s Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, Theo Francken.
It didn’t come from the mouth of the Justice Minister (as reported earlier).
Either way, it brings back memories of Paul Bremer, who was the US head of the Coalition Provisional Authority which ruled Iraq in the occupation’s early days, using the same quote to announce the capture of Saddam Hussein.
Lydia Berkennou, one of the survivors of the attack on the Bataclan concert hall, has been speaking to Sky News in the last few minutes about the arrest of Abdeslam.
She was asked if she felt that a blow had now been struck back against the perpetrators of the attack on the concern hall where 89 people were killed in November:
The operation in Brussels happens to be taking place as the city hosts a major two-day European summit, which is being attended by EU leaders.
Here’s the Belgian PM, Charles Michel, rushing out of that summit a little earlier as news of the raid filtered through (via the BBC’s Imelda Flattery):
Belgian PM dashes from summit phone clamped to ear amid reports of shooting & police operation in brussels ... https://t.co/phJDdEpaqV
— Imelda Flattery (@Imeldaflattery) March 18, 2016
Updated
Charles Michel, the prime minister of Belgium, has tweeted this picture which he says shows him monitoring the Brussels police operations today with the French president, Francois Hollande:
Suivi des opérations policières avec le Président de @fhollande Opvolging van de politie acties met Franse president pic.twitter.com/6QX5QAHVWw
— Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) March 18, 2016
Here are some images from today’s raid, which involved heavily armed police:
The Guardian’s Paris correspondent, Angelique Chrisafis, reports that the Belgian federal prosecutor, Eric Van der Sypt confirmed earlier that Abdeslam’s fingerprints were found at a flat that was raided in the Forest area of Brussels on Tuesday, where a shoot-out with police saw another gunman shot dead next to an Islamic State flag.
He said it had not been established how old the fingerprints were, or how long Abdeslam spent in the apartment.
Another crucial link has now also established between the Forest apartment and the Paris attacks.
When French and Belgian police arrived to search the flat on Tuesday, they were met with gunfire from automatic weapons from behind the door.
A police sniper shot one of the gunmen through a window, Mohamed Belkaïd, a 35-year-old Algerian living illegally in Belgium and known to police for a theft case in 2014.
“Next to his body was a Kalashnikov, a book on Salafism and an Islamic State flag,” according to Thierry Werts, of the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office.
The Belgian prosecutor’s office said Belkaïd was “more than likely” one of the key logistics operatives behind the Paris attacks, who had been sought by police under the false name of Samir Bouzid.
Le Monde reported that investigators believe a man using the name Samir Bouzid had received the last text message sent by three of the Paris attackers before they staged a bloody gun attack on a rock gig at the Paris Bataclan concert hall on November 13. The message said, “We’ve left, we’re on the way.”
Updated
Belgian minister confirms Abdeslam's capture
There is confirmation now from the Belgian authorities of Abdeslam’s arrest, according to Reuters.
BREAKING: Belgium Justice minister confirms capture of Paris suspect Abdeslam: "We got him." LIVE: https://t.co/bMMK5DpqCl
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) March 18, 2016
Updated
So who is Salah Abdeslam? He’s 26-year-old French national who grew up in Brussels, fled Paris for Belgium by car hours after the 13 November attacks which killed 130 people. He is believed to have played a key role in organising the attacks.
Police believe he played a key role in the logistics of the Paris attacks and escorted the three suicide bombers who blew themselves up at the Stade de France as part of the coordinated attacks.
Investigators are also considering whether he planned to carry out his own suicide attack in the 18th arrondissement of the French capital, and perhaps backed out. His brother blew himself up and died at a Paris bar on Boulevard Voltaire during the attacks.
Abdeslam had called friends to drive to collect him in Paris hours after the attacks. While they were driving him back to Belgium, the car was briefly stopped at the French-Belgian border and Abdeslam’s ID was checked, but he was allowed to continue through to Belgium and has been on the run ever since, the focus of an international manhunt.
Abdeslam reportedly stayed holed up in an apartment in the Schaerbeek district in north Brussels for three weeks after the Paris attacks.
Opening summary
A major police operation is underway in the Molenbeek area of Brussels amid reports that they have finally caught up with one Europe’s most wanted men, Salah Abdeslam, a prime suspect in November’s terrorist attacks on Paris.
Abdeslam was wounded and arrested in a shootout in the city according to Belgian media reports, which said that two people had been arrested.
France’s President Francois Hollande said there was no confirmation of the detention of Salah Abdeslam, the 26-year-old French suspect from Brussels.
The police operation in Molenbeek was launched just as Belgian prosecutors confirmed that Abdeslam’s fingerints had been found in an apartment in the Forest district of Brussels that was raided by police on Tuesday.
Updated
