Security Alert in Brussels Raised to Highest Level

The Belgian government has raised the security alert in Brussels, the capital, to the highest level and advised citizens to avoid public places as much as possible. Meanwhile, Turkish police have arrested a Moroccan-Belgian man on suspicion of conducting reconnaissance for the targets of last Friday's attacks in Paris. A week after the terrorist attacks in Paris that left 130 dead and hundreds injured, Belgium's crisis management center has raised the security alert level in Brussels to the highest level and advised the public to 'avoid' shopping centers, concert halls, and other public places such as stadiums and train stations as much as possible, with the Brussels metro being closed at least until Sunday. Belgian police are still searching for an individual believed to have been involved in the Paris attacks and who then returned to Belgium. This individual, named Salah Abdeslam, 26, is reported to hold French citizenship but lived in Brussels. According to police, his older brother, Ibrahim, was the one who detonated himself in a café in Paris. According to Reuters on Saturday, November 21, the announcement of the highest security alert level indicates a risk of an 'imminent attack,' but the Belgian crisis management center stated that due to ongoing investigations, it could not provide an explanation for the increase in the alert level. On Saturday, hundreds of soldiers patrolled around government buildings and other institutions, including the European Union headquarters in central Brussels. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) headquarters is also located in Brussels. According to this report, three people have been arrested in connection with the terrorist attacks in Paris. The last time the security alert level in Brussels was raised to the highest level was in May 2014 after armed men attacked the Jewish Museum in the city, killing four people. Meanwhile, French media reported, citing police sources, that security agents had observed Abdelhamid Abaaoud, 28, a Belgian-Moroccan identified as the mastermind of the Paris terrorist attacks, and a woman entering an apartment in the suburbs of Paris the night before he was killed, tracking their location through phone tapping. The two were killed last Wednesday in a police raid on the building in the Saint-Denis neighborhood of Paris. Additionally, the Dogan news agency reported that Turkish police arrested a Moroccan-Belgian man on suspicion of conducting reconnaissance on locations targeted in the Paris terrorist attacks. According to this report, 'Ahmed Dahmani,' 26, was arrested in a luxury hotel in Antalya, southeastern Turkey. No further information has been provided on this matter. The Dogan agency also reported the arrest of two other men from Syria near a highway in the same area, who were said to have been tasked by the Islamic State (ISIS) to safely escort 'Ahmed Dahmani' across the border and intended to meet him at the aforementioned hotel. Meanwhile, Reuters reported, citing the French Ministry of the Interior, that police have searched nearly 800 locations, detained 90 people for questioning, placed 164 individuals under house arrest, and discovered 174 automatic weapons. With the approval of the French Parliament, the state of emergency has been extended until February to give police the necessary powers for their operations. In this context, European Union ministers agreed to tighten security and border measures.