:00:09. > :00:20.This is BBC News. Continuing coverage of the police raid in
:00:21. > :00:24.Brussels. The main developments. At least two suspects have been
:00:25. > :00:28.arrested in the raid, including the only known surviving gunman from
:00:29. > :00:34.last year's Terrace attacks in Paris, in which 130 people died.
:00:35. > :00:40.This is the moment that Belgian special Armed Forces began the raid
:00:41. > :00:44.on the property. Salah Abdeslam was arrested after being shot and
:00:45. > :00:53.wounded. He has been on the run since the Paris attacks in November.
:00:54. > :01:00.More explosions in the district have been heard tonight as police hunt
:01:01. > :01:04.for more suspects who fled the scene. This is the live in the
:01:05. > :01:07.Belgian capital where police have sealed off the area where the raid
:01:08. > :01:29.took place. There are reports of more arrests.
:01:30. > :01:35.Hello and welcome to BBC News. Anti-terror police in the Belgian
:01:36. > :01:40.capital of Brussels say they have arrested three people, including the
:01:41. > :01:43.main suspect in the Paris attacks last November. Sal Abdeslam was
:01:44. > :01:47.detained after anti-terror police carried out a raid in the Mullen
:01:48. > :01:51.back area of the city, during which shots were fired.
:01:52. > :01:57.Abdeslam, 26, has been on the run since November. It is believed he
:01:58. > :02:02.played a key role in the attacks last November which killed 130
:02:03. > :02:03.people. Media are reporting police have also captured two other
:02:04. > :02:14.suspects. As ambulances were heading to the
:02:15. > :02:18.scene, police sources here in Brussels were already saying they
:02:19. > :02:24.had got their man. Sal Abdeslam, the prime suspect in the Paris attacks,
:02:25. > :02:29.sources said shot in the leg and in custody. Filmed by an eyewitness,
:02:30. > :02:33.police amassing as they hunted him. It was mid afternoon in a Molenbeek
:02:34. > :02:39.area of Brussels. Dozens of units descended. There was gunfire. One
:02:40. > :02:43.witness said he saw a man being chased down the road, shot and then
:02:44. > :02:47.falling. For Belgian police, this seems to have been a considerable
:02:48. > :02:52.success. Sal Abdeslam, the prime suspect from the Paris attacks,
:02:53. > :02:56.wounded in the leg and then the teams arrested at the top of this
:02:57. > :02:58.street, following these police investigations that have been going
:02:59. > :03:04.on since the Paris attacks, which have traced to this location.
:03:05. > :03:07.Belgian's Prime Minister Charles Michel rushed out of the summit of
:03:08. > :03:14.European leaders taking place across town to be briefed on the operation.
:03:15. > :03:18.He and Francis Holland were briefed on the situation. Sal Abdeslam has
:03:19. > :03:22.evaded police since November. Prosecutors say he was a key player
:03:23. > :03:25.in the Paris attacks. Earlier this week, his fingers were found after
:03:26. > :03:29.police raid this house in Brussels. It is thought he may have escaped
:03:30. > :03:33.out of a back window as another man fired at offices to give them pinned
:03:34. > :03:39.down. Police were on his trail and closing in, the neighbours had no
:03:40. > :03:45.idea he had been in the house. I opened my door to pick up my son at
:03:46. > :03:53.school and I heard a lot of policeman yelling at me, go home, go
:03:54. > :03:58.home, go home. Actually, this shooting had just happened, the
:03:59. > :04:06.first one, and the operation was happening just in front of me and we
:04:07. > :04:10.didn't realise. Sal Abdeslam has been taken to hospital to be treated
:04:11. > :04:16.for his ruins. No officers were injured in the operation. After
:04:17. > :04:20.months of painstaking, this was a success for the police, but it has
:04:21. > :04:23.also raised tensions in Molenbeek this evening. Riot police were
:04:24. > :04:27.brought in to deal with groups drawn in by the presence of so many
:04:28. > :04:32.officers on the streets. Hopefully we will be talking to
:04:33. > :04:35.Damien later in Mullen -- Molenbeek, but let's cross
:04:36. > :04:36.Damien later in Mullen -- Molenbeek, bring us up to speed with where we
:04:37. > :04:38.are now. In the last bring us up to speed with where we
:04:39. > :04:45.reports of more bring us up to speed with where we
:04:46. > :04:49.streets of Molenbeek and also local media reports of further arrests.
:04:50. > :04:55.Bell that is the situation at the moment. The operation does seem to
:04:56. > :05:01.be ongoing. Reports of explosions that I believe we are not sure
:05:02. > :05:05.exactly what might be causing them. We know Sal Abdeslam has been
:05:06. > :05:13.arrested and injured. A second man has also been arrested. He is
:05:14. > :05:19.another person who is wanted in relation to those attacks. Those
:05:20. > :05:23.reports are coming out now of a third person, possibly being
:05:24. > :05:26.arrested by police, and I think Damien was saying earlier that there
:05:27. > :05:28.were reports that police were targeting another house in the area
:05:29. > :05:34.where he may have been hiding from them.
:05:35. > :05:40.Lucy, I presume this is being covered wall-to-wall in France. This
:05:41. > :05:44.must come as a huge relief. The most wanted man in Europe and of course
:05:45. > :05:51.in France, months after those deadly attacks on November 13, has at last
:05:52. > :05:56.been captured. This is very big news in France. A great relief I should
:05:57. > :06:00.imagine for the government here. The authorities had been under enormous
:06:01. > :06:04.pressure to capture him. He was the key surviving suspects from those
:06:05. > :06:07.attacks. As such, the fact he has been captured alive and is
:06:08. > :06:14.potentially able to answer questions will be of enormous interest to the
:06:15. > :06:18.government here. The attacks still have left a real scar under Franz
:06:19. > :06:25.and the threat against France remains very strong. We are told the
:06:26. > :06:27.president has repeatedly warned it is being targeted by groups like
:06:28. > :06:33.Islamic State. The fact they have caught a man who can potentially
:06:34. > :06:39.give them valuable information about other people who might be connected
:06:40. > :06:43.to the network about logistics. It will be of incredible value to the
:06:44. > :06:47.intelligence services, who are trying to stop future attacks. The
:06:48. > :06:50.$64,000 question is whether he is able to tell them whether he will
:06:51. > :06:54.choose to. The fact he has been caught alive is a huge boost to the
:06:55. > :07:02.security forces in France and Belgium, who have been under
:07:03. > :07:05.increasing pressure to bring this opportunity to a successful
:07:06. > :07:10.conclusion. Lucy, there is a real sense, is there not, in France, that
:07:11. > :07:14.it is still a target and remains a target. It is a country on a
:07:15. > :07:17.heightened sense of alert. The government has already said they
:07:18. > :07:20.have managed to foil several attacks in the past
:07:21. > :07:24.few months and it is clear that France has been regularly named by
:07:25. > :07:32.militants he would choose to do damage towards it. Still very much a
:07:33. > :07:39.question of how best to of the problems of the intelligence
:07:40. > :07:42.agency is dealing with is that the profile of many people who have
:07:43. > :07:47.carried out attacks in the past year is very broad. These are not people
:07:48. > :07:51.who are seen as ardent Islamist militants. These are people who are
:07:52. > :07:55.perhaps more known to local police as petty criminals who have made the
:07:56. > :07:57.transition to militant Islam very, very quickly indeed. You might
:07:58. > :08:00.remember there was talk of the Abdeslam brothers running a
:08:01. > :08:06.bar, drinking alcohol, smoking cannabis, just
:08:07. > :08:12.shortly before they carried out these attacks in the name of radical
:08:13. > :08:14.Islam. It is difficult for the intelligence agency to pinpoint who
:08:15. > :08:19.they should follow most closely, where they should put most of their
:08:20. > :08:23.resources. Anything we can get -- they can get in the pursuit of
:08:24. > :08:29.narrowing the search will be greatly appreciated. The problem is whether
:08:30. > :08:33.Abdeslam will choose to talk. Indeed. Walk us through recent
:08:34. > :08:41.events that led us to today. Of course involving huge amounts of
:08:42. > :08:42.close cooperation of France and Belgium. A relationship that has not
:08:43. > :08:49.been without its tensions. embarrassment that some of the
:08:50. > :09:00.suspects managed to slip through the hands of the authorities. Sal
:09:01. > :09:03.Abdeslam managed to cross checkpoints into Brussels after the
:09:04. > :09:07.attacks and that was embarrassing for both sides. They have been
:09:08. > :09:10.working together, as you say, not without tensions, but they have been
:09:11. > :09:16.working together. The manhunt has been enormous. The resources given
:09:17. > :09:19.have been enormous. We found on Tuesday there was a strong lead, a
:09:20. > :09:26.strong sense they were on the right trail, when they found fingerprints
:09:27. > :09:31.belonging to Sal Abdeslam in the property in Molenbeek and also an
:09:32. > :09:32.exchange of gunfire with some of his presumed
:09:33. > :09:42.was a real sense that they were on the right trail. Having said that,
:09:43. > :09:46.they also found fingerprints of Sal Abdeslam in December which did not
:09:47. > :09:46.leave them anywhere useful. It seems they have found
:09:47. > :09:50.some information in that house, whether it
:09:51. > :09:55.they arrested there, evidence they've done inside the property
:09:56. > :10:02.that led them to where they are today, and they have Sal Abdeslam
:10:03. > :10:10.final in custody. After this intends for manhunt.
:10:11. > :10:20.We can speak to our reporter who was there when it took place. I was in
:10:21. > :10:28.the centre of Molenbeek, where the house raid was. The house that was
:10:29. > :10:32.rented by somebody and where Abdeslam was hiding. It is
:10:33. > :10:38.in the centre of Molenbeek, close to the centre of Brussels.
:10:39. > :10:47.really in the suburbs. It is close to the centre. What efforts were
:10:48. > :10:50.made to protect civilians? We could see
:10:51. > :10:55.people inside shops and walking along the street while this was
:10:56. > :11:04.happening. When they raided the house worth Sal Abdeslam was hiding,
:11:05. > :11:06.they had made a safety zone around the house and people were
:11:07. > :11:18.-- Salah Abdeslam. The raids continued in several other places,
:11:19. > :11:20.several other houses. We could see special forces were entering houses
:11:21. > :11:27.around the neighbourhood without actually taking the civilians at a
:11:28. > :11:30.distance. That was a bit frightening, because you could see
:11:31. > :11:31.people who were trying to get to their
:11:32. > :11:33.houses, but then police officers would stop
:11:34. > :11:37.although there was not really a sign of a safety
:11:38. > :11:45.zone. People didn't know where to go to. Extraordinary pictures, a normal
:11:46. > :11:50.day in this part of the Belgian capital. These extremely heavily
:11:51. > :11:51.armed police out on the streets. What did you hear? There were
:11:52. > :12:00.reports of gunfire. What was the People were surprised and were
:12:01. > :12:06.wondering what the sound was and where it was coming from. People
:12:07. > :12:09.knew these were explosions, shootings, but they didn't really
:12:10. > :12:14.want to believe that this was really happening in their neighbourhood.
:12:15. > :12:16.People asked. They asked what is happening, why are they doing this?
:12:17. > :12:17.People were frightened, wondering, wanted to know what was happening,
:12:18. > :12:20.why they couldn't go home. That seems to be a
:12:21. > :12:23.bit more quiet now. People are aware about
:12:24. > :12:31.what is going on. They know that Salah Abdeslam is
:12:32. > :12:36.arrested at the moment. Things aren't more quiet now. How much of a
:12:37. > :12:38.relief will this be for the Belgian authorities, that this man, who has
:12:39. > :12:47.been on the run for all this time, is finally in custody. On the one
:12:48. > :12:54.hand, it is a relief because they have arrested and have him alive,
:12:55. > :13:00.and he might eventually speak. It is a relief but on the other hand, this
:13:01. > :13:09.whole operation also shows that the network is very broad, the Paris
:13:10. > :13:17.attacks, but attacks that are still plans to take place later on, but it
:13:18. > :13:23.is a relief on one hand, but it also shows that there is reason to be
:13:24. > :13:35.concerned and worried about what are the other plans. . How is Molenbeek
:13:36. > :13:40.compared with other districts which might Molenbeek has been in the
:13:41. > :13:52.picture as the terrorist capital of Europe. It is true that Salah
:13:53. > :14:00.Abdeslam has been found there. Not only is Molenbeek ablaze with these
:14:01. > :14:07.guys are hiding, other districts of Brussels and also Antwerp is a
:14:08. > :14:13.region where we find people connected to these networks. We
:14:14. > :14:17.can't say that is Molenbeek is the one and only centre of terror in
:14:18. > :14:21.Europe, not at all. In many countries across Europe, there are
:14:22. > :14:28.efforts being made by the authorities to have a better
:14:29. > :14:33.relationship with Islamic communities. What efforts are being
:14:34. > :14:39.made in Belgium, in Brussels in particular, to reach out to these
:14:40. > :14:47.groups? This is also something, last year already, after the foiled
:14:48. > :14:52.attacks, where they found terrorists, they were starting to
:14:53. > :14:59.approach the Moslem community to get a better understanding. Over the
:15:00. > :15:07.last year, this didn't really help a lot. Lots of talking and nothing
:15:08. > :15:12.really happening. After the Paris attacks, now politicians and
:15:13. > :15:16.activists are doing a bigger effort to understand Islam and to
:15:17. > :15:21.understand the community in Molenbeek and this is something we
:15:22. > :15:26.see. It is new, the first steps are being made. It is not at all
:15:27. > :15:30.finished yet, it is ongoing, but it is very important that this
:15:31. > :15:37.continues. We appreciate you talking to us. She was at the scene as the
:15:38. > :15:45.raid took place earlier in the afternoon.
:15:46. > :15:51.Our world affairs editor joins me now. So much focus on this
:15:52. > :15:55.particular suburb of Brussels. Molenbeek, a reference to its being
:15:56. > :15:59.the tourist capital of Europe. Something we have heard bandied
:16:00. > :16:05.about in the media since November 13. To what degree is this true? It
:16:06. > :16:08.is difficult to tell, except that we have no significant number of the
:16:09. > :16:12.people involved in the Paris attacks have come from that specific
:16:13. > :16:20.district. It is a particularly rundown area, an area which is,
:16:21. > :16:24.bizarrely, it seems very night. A heavy concentration of people from
:16:25. > :16:29.North Africa, a lot of Muslims living in that area. Not much
:16:30. > :16:34.connection with the rest of the city. Security officials talk about
:16:35. > :16:38.it as being something of a breeding ground for jihadists. As we were
:16:39. > :16:43.hearing just now, it is a broader problem across Belgium, but Bob what
:16:44. > :16:48.we know is a very large numbers of Belgians in terms of per capita have
:16:49. > :16:52.gone to fight in Iraq and Syria alongside so-called Islamic State
:16:53. > :16:57.and quite a significant number have returned to Belgium. They clearly
:16:58. > :17:01.have a very significant problem. As we are seeing now, the network of
:17:02. > :17:04.people involved in the Paris attacks seems to be broadening and
:17:05. > :17:08.broadening. The fact they are now saying that potentially three people
:17:09. > :17:13.have been detained in this latest raid, more people, and obviously the
:17:14. > :17:18.raids are ongoing. We have to see just quite how broad it is going to
:17:19. > :17:22.go, but it seems like a significant number of people involved. Everyone
:17:23. > :17:29.expected at the time, because it was such a sophisticated, well-planned
:17:30. > :17:33.attack. I think we can now see some pictures of one of these recent
:17:34. > :17:40.arrests that have taken place in Molenbeek. There we are. These are
:17:41. > :18:04.not live pictures, this is from a few hours ago. Let's listen.
:18:05. > :18:16.INDISTINCT SHOUTING. We are watching these pictures again
:18:17. > :18:22.from a few hours ago. These are pictures of one of the arrests being
:18:23. > :18:26.made on the streets of Molenbeek by Belgian police. We are not entirely
:18:27. > :18:31.sure at this stage who that particular man is that is being
:18:32. > :18:37.bundled into the back of that car. Let's have another watch now to see
:18:38. > :18:42.exactly how many men we can see. Local media is reporting that a
:18:43. > :18:44.third arrest has been made, but we don't know at this stage who that
:18:45. > :19:01.particular man is. We think now that we can see two
:19:02. > :19:07.separate men being arrested at this stage. This man being the first
:19:08. > :19:13.there in the cream, off-white hoodie, that is being put into the
:19:14. > :19:18.back of that lack faults like an car. Here comes the second now.
:19:19. > :19:21.Recent speculation is now by local media that there has been a third
:19:22. > :19:28.arrest. We are awaiting confirmation on that. Let's cross back to the
:19:29. > :19:32.live pictures now. This is the scene currently as it is in Molenbeek.
:19:33. > :19:36.Let's go back a couple of hours, referencing those pictures we just
:19:37. > :19:41.sort of valves arrests. What did you make of them? It is interesting.
:19:42. > :19:45.They clearly knew what they were doing, the apartments they targeted,
:19:46. > :19:49.they had good information. The point to bring out is that it all stems
:19:50. > :19:55.from earlier raid on Tuesday when one man was shot dead and two
:19:56. > :19:58.managed to escape. It seems that Abdeslam was one of those people.
:19:59. > :20:03.One we have seen being arrested just now, or the video of it, where from
:20:04. > :20:09.that apartment in the first rate this week. Clearly the police and
:20:10. > :20:14.intelligence agency had good information and knew what they were
:20:15. > :20:21.doing. Thank you for talking to us. Let's speak to a French security
:20:22. > :20:28.consultant. Thank you very much for patiently waiting to speak to us.
:20:29. > :20:38.How is this arrest and raid being seen in Paris? They are being seen
:20:39. > :20:44.as finally, after the fourth try, they have been able to capture
:20:45. > :20:55.Abdeslam. What is really important to say that he did not try to flee
:20:56. > :20:59.Belgium, he stayed there. He was hiding, but he was hiding for four
:21:00. > :21:10.Mons. It is important to look at the support networks, because he could
:21:11. > :21:13.not have gone undetected for four months a while. Security services
:21:14. > :21:21.will be looking closely at what is happening in Molenbeek and other
:21:22. > :21:27.places. On Twitter, congratulations to the Belgian authorities on the
:21:28. > :21:33.capture of Salah Abdeslam. How much pressure have the Belgian
:21:34. > :21:38.authorities been under? A lot, from the French first, because obviously
:21:39. > :21:47.they were close to being ridiculed for having let him go and missed him
:21:48. > :21:54.three times. There were reports of him being in another district of
:21:55. > :21:59.Brussels for three weeks undetected. They were under a lot of pressure to
:22:00. > :22:04.show they were competent and that they would get the job done. It
:22:05. > :22:11.hasn't just been down to the Belgian authorities, has it? What French
:22:12. > :22:15.involvement has there been? What has been decided a month ago at the
:22:16. > :22:22.level of the Prime Minister, between France and Belgium, was open book
:22:23. > :22:30.cooperation, sharing information for the first time, what we saw on
:22:31. > :22:34.Tuesday, a joint operation where French forces took part in the raid
:22:35. > :22:41.in Brussels. That is very telling about how much those two nations
:22:42. > :22:45.need to work together. That is assigned for the nations in Europe
:22:46. > :22:52.to look at this and say, if we don't stick together, then all this will
:22:53. > :22:56.happen time and time again. The state secretary has been tweeting,
:22:57. > :23:01.we've got him. Clearly, they are very pleased to have him alive. How
:23:02. > :23:08.important was it, as far as you are aware, that he was taken alive, even
:23:09. > :23:14.though possibly wounded? Hugely important, because for a lot of
:23:15. > :23:18.reasons. Unfortunately, we are flying blind, so to have somebody
:23:19. > :23:23.that actually took part in the planning, the preparation, the
:23:24. > :23:29.knowledge of all the different networks within Islamic State in
:23:30. > :23:36.Europe, is huge. What people have to remember, as well, is that,
:23:37. > :23:41.Abdeslam, compared to the others, got cold feet, and most probably as
:23:42. > :23:47.we saw through his suicide belt before leaving. He might be more
:23:48. > :23:54.willing to target than somebody who would have been even more of a
:23:55. > :24:00.hard-core radical Islamic. His ability to remain in Belgium all
:24:01. > :24:06.this time since those attacks in November in Paris throws up a great
:24:07. > :24:10.deal of questions. How surprised are you that he stayed in Europe when
:24:11. > :24:18.there was speculation that he had fled to Syria? Might take was, I
:24:19. > :24:25.wouldn't see him go to Syria for one reason only. My reasoning is that,
:24:26. > :24:29.if he were to rejoin the Islamic State, he would be viewed as someone
:24:30. > :24:34.that's decided not to go ahead with the operation. His life most
:24:35. > :24:39.probably have been more at risk in Syria than staying in Belgium. It
:24:40. > :24:48.would make sense for him to stay in Europe. The question about the
:24:49. > :24:51.support networks come into play. The money, logistics, people renting the
:24:52. > :24:58.apartments on his behalf, all this shows that Belgium is the nexus, if
:24:59. > :25:02.you will, of jihadist terrorism in Europe. But how likely is it that he
:25:03. > :25:14.has had support from the middle east, from Islamic State in Iraq or
:25:15. > :25:21.Syria, rather than just in Belgium? I would say that it is unlikely that
:25:22. > :25:26.after an operation that he took part in and fled, that he would have had
:25:27. > :25:34.more support from Iraq and Syria. It was the local networks, and that is
:25:35. > :25:40.what is really worrisome, that this ingrained radical element that I
:25:41. > :25:47.living in Belgium at the moment and that could help him. We will stop
:25:48. > :25:52.you there. We really appreciate you sharing your inside with us. We will
:25:53. > :25:56.speak to you again in a moment. I want to update people if you have
:25:57. > :26:00.just joined us, you are watching BBC News where we are following this
:26:01. > :26:04.raid that is still underway. An operation in the district of
:26:05. > :26:07.Molenbeek in the Belgian capital of Brussels. Stay with us.