2017 Brussels attack

2017 Brussels Central Station bombing
Location Brussels Central Station in Brussels, Belgium
Date 20 June 2017
8:45 p.m. (UTC+1)
Target Civilians
Attack type
 Bombing
Weapons Explosives
Deaths 1 (the attacker)
Non-fatal injuries
 0
Perpetrator Oussama Zariouh
Police closing the area around Brussels Central train station

On 20 June 2017, an explosion occurred at Brussels Central Station in Brussels, Belgium, causing no casualties. Soldiers patrolling the station killed the suspect soon afterwards with 3 to 4 shots, according to eyewitnesses. The perpetrator was a 36-year-old Moroccan national who lived in the Molenbeek district of Brussels.

Background

After links between the Paris attackers that killed 130 people in 2015 and the Brussels bombings of 2016 which killed 32 civilians, soldiers have been on patrol in Brussels to step up security.[1] The Molenbeek district, where the perpetrators of the 2016 metro and airport bombings originated, underwent a large scale administrative check-up, with over 20.000 inhabitants being checked by law enforcement agencies.[2]

Incident

At 8.39 pm, a 36-year-old male entered the Brussels Central Station and descended the central stairs in the main hall, approaching travelers at the bottom of the stairs. At 8:44 the man was seen isolating himself from others, then moving towards travelers again, appearing nervous.[2] He was heard yelling, and attempted to detonate a luggage trolley.[1][3][4] Testimonies of eyewitnesses and a photograph taken by a witness indicate a small incendiary device detonated, with limited explosive force, but with a loud "bang".[5] The size of the explosion suggests the device failed to function as intended, possibly as a result of poor manufacturing.[6] According to the magistrate, the man was heard to shout "Allahu Akbar" after setting off the explosion and before being shot dead.[7][8] It was later revealed that the perpetrator had received no training in handling explosives, and taught himself how to construct explosive devices.[2] The explosive used was TATP, the same compound used during the 2016 bombings.[2]

As the trolley caught fire, he proceeded down the escalators towards the platforms, causing travelers to flee onto the train tracks.[9] The burning luggage exploded a second time, due to gas bottles it contained.[10] This second explosion was reported more powerful than the first one, but due to the time elapsed after the first explosion, no one was injured because travelers had the chance to clear the area.[2] Shrapnel contained around the charge indicates the device was intended to cause as much injury as possible, but the device did not reach the intended maximum yield because of construction flaws.[11]

Upon returning to the main hall, the confused suspect was spotted by soldiers alerted by the explosions. He shouted "Allahu Akbar" and engaged military personnel unarmed.[10][2] The soldiers opened fire and killed the suspect.[12] It remained unclear for hours whether the suspect had survived or not. Because of electric wiring visible under his clothes, the body was not approached until the bomb squad of the Belgian Army, DOVO, arrived with a robot to inspect the body and confirm his death.[13][2] The Belgian state television VRT initially reported that the body was booby-trapped, but this information turned out to be false.[14]

Perpetrator

The attacker, identified as Oussama Zariouh, was a 36 year old Moroccan national who had moved from Morocco to Belgium in 2012 and had been living in the Molenbeek neighbourhood of Brussels since 2013.[15][2] He was only known to police for sexual misconduct,[16] but had no identified ties to terrorism.[17][10] A neighbor described the man as a silent and reserved individual who rarely received visitors.[2] The Belgian Federal Prosecution Office stated that the attacker had "sympathies for the terrorist organization Islamic State", evidenced by documents found at his house.[18] No ties with terrorist networks could be identified during the investigation that followed, and it was concluded that Zariouh radicalized individually and acted as a lone wolf.[2] He never received training for handling explosives or constructing explosive devices, which is required for the effective use of TATP in bombs according to terrorism expert Peter Bergen.[2]

Aftermath

Immediately after the incident police, aided by soldiers from the Belgian army, swept the station and set up a secure perimeter around the station. The Brussels North Station was closed as a precaution, and multiple suspicious luggage items were inspected. All train traffic between North and South was suspended, and also the metro service was temporarily halted. Guests of the nearby Hilton hotel were evacuated, but allowed to return to their rooms around 23:30.[11] The UNESCO heritage site Grand Place was briefly partially locked down. On the nearby Grass Square (Dutch: Grasmarkt), another explosion could be heard as a result of a controlled detonation of a suspected vehicle by the Belgian bomb squad.[14]

The incident was used as an argument by advocates of stronger civil oversight within the Belgian political establishment to extend the mandate of soldiers patrolling the major cities in Belgium. A campaign was launched on social media to compliment the involved soldiers on their efficient resolution of the incident, although sources within the Belgian Army admitted that the presence of soldiers around the station had very little impact on the damage caused by the attack.[19]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Germany, SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg. "Großeinsatz nach Explosion: Soldat schießt Verdächtigen an Brüsseler Hauptbahnhof nieder - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Panorama". SPIEGEL ONLINE. Retrieved 2017-06-20.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Lesaffer, Pieter (22 June 2017). "Geruisloos in de ban van de jihad geraakt". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). pp. 2–5.
  3. ↑ "Suspect shot after explosion at Brussels train station". Associated Press. June 20, 2017. Retrieved 2017-06-20.
  4. ↑ Michael Birnbaum and Annabell Van den Berghe. "Belgian soldiers shoot suspect after explosion at Brussels train station". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-06-20.
  5. ↑ Grinberg, Emanuella (June 20, 2017). "Brussels Central Station incident: Individual neutralized". CNN. Retrieved 2017-06-20.
  6. ↑ Grinberg, Emanuella (June 20, 2017). "Suspect fatally shot in Brussels Central Station terror attack". CNN (in Dutch). Retrieved 2017-06-20.
  7. ↑ "Belgium tightens security after a failed bombing by a man shouting 'Allahu akbar'". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. 21 June 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  8. ↑ Schreuer, Milan (21 June 2017). "Brussels Train Station Bombing Renews Focus on Belgium as Jihadist Base". New York Times. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  9. ↑ "Zo verliep de terreuraanslag in Brussel-Centraal". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). June 20, 2017. Retrieved 2017-06-20.
  10. 1 2 3 Birnbaum, Michael (21 June 2017). "Suspect in foiled Brussels attack was 36-year-old Moroccan, authorities say". Washington Post. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  11. 1 2 "LIVE. Volg hier de persconferentie van het Federaal parket". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). June 20, 2017. Retrieved 2017-06-20.
  12. ↑ "Reiskoffer ontploft in Brussel-Centraal, verdachte man gedood door militairen". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). June 20, 2017. Retrieved 2017-06-20.
  13. ↑ Vandendriessche, Hans (June 20, 2017). "Dovo bevestigt aan @VTMNIEUWS dat een bommengordel onschadelijk is gemaakt". Twitter (in Dutch). Retrieved 2017-06-20.
  14. 1 2 Truyts, Joris (June 20, 2017). "Man doodgeschoten in Brussel-Centraal na explosie, geen andere slachtoffers". De Redactie (in Dutch).
  15. ↑ "L'auteur de l'attentat manqué de Bruxelles avait des "sympathies" pour l'État islamique". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 21 June 2017. L'homme abattu par les soldats à la gare centrale de Bruxelles était un Marocain de 36 ans. Il vivait à Molenbeek
  16. ↑ MILAN SCHREUER; DAN BILEFSKY. "Brussels Train Station Bombing Renews Focus on Belgium as Jihadist Base". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 June 2017. The authorities said the man was known to police for sexual misconduct but not for terrorism.
  17. ↑ "Brussels bomb suspect was Moroccan and 'known to police'". BBC News. 2017-06-21. Retrieved 2017-06-21.
  18. ↑ "Ce que l’on sait de l’explosion dans une gare de Bruxelles, considérée comme " une attaque terroriste "". Le Monde (in French). 20 June 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2017. The assailant, who was shot dead, "had sympathies for the terrorist organization Islamic State (EI)," according to the Belgian federal prosecutor's office
  19. ↑ Lesaffer, Pieter (22 June 2017). "Niemand twijfelt nog aan militairen op straat". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). pp. 4–5.
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