Brussels, Belgium (CNN)Residents
of Brussels tried Saturday to return to some sense of normalcy, five
days after terrorist attacks at the airport and a downtown subway
station killed 31 people and injured more than 300 others.
But
the task was complicated by an intense police manhunt for two -- or
perhaps three -- suspected terrorists who might still wreak havoc on the
city that serves as the capital of both Belgium and the capital of
Europe.
And nerves were still
jangling from the explosions heard around the city this week, from
police actions demonstrating the bitter fact that Brussels is now the
capital, as well, of Europe's fight against terrorism.
At
least nine people have been arrested in Europe in recent days. Six
people were taken into custody Thursday night into Friday morning in
Belgium. Three have since been released.
On
Saturday, Belgian authorities said they had charged a man they called
"Faycal C." with "terrorist murder" and other counts in connection with
Tuesday's attacks.
The
person, whose full name has not been publicly disclosed, was arrested
Thursday by Belgian authorities and formally charged Friday, the Belgian
Federal Prosecutor's office said Saturday.
In
addition to terrorist murder, Faycal C. faces charges of "participation
in terrorist activities" and "attempted terrorist murder," officials
said.
No weapons or explosives
were found in the person's home when Belgian authorities carried out a
raid, the office said. Further details about Faycal C. were not
immediately available.
The
officials said Saturday that another man, arrested Friday at a subway
station in Schaerbeek, had not been charged. But a judge has allowed him
to be held for another 24 hours, pending investigation.
And
a person identified only as "Aboubakar A." has been arrested and
charged with participation in activities of a terrorist group, officials
said. They did not say when or where he was arrested.
And
the investigation continues. Police operations have become commonplace:
Several were carried out Friday. One was in the district of Schaerbeek,
near where a taxi driver had picked up three alleged conspirators and
took them to Brussels Airport before the bombings.
Witnesses told CNN they heard two explosions during the police action Friday. Others reported gunfire near a subway station.
These
kinds of police actions demonstrate the urgency authorities feel about
capturing those responsible for Tuesday's killings and preventing
another next attack.
More will
doubtless come in the future, as authorities try to capture the missing
men -- and to repair their tattered reputation in the wake of the
attacks.
One man said his son, who has a shop in
an area that is now closed, saw an armed person emerge from a metro shop
and get shot in the leg by police.
The
operation ended with the arrest of one person linked to Tuesday's
attacks, Schaerbeek Mayor Bernard Clerfayt told public broadcaster RTBF.
The mayor said the arrested
person was wounded. It was not clear if that person was the same one the
shopkeeper saw get shot in the leg.
In Brussels, soldiers line the streets near the central subway station, their hands gripping guns. And people are worried.
"We all know that we are not safe anywhere," one woman said. "It can happen anywhere and at any moment."
The effects are felt in neighborhoods
swarmed by police, and near the sites of attacks. Brussels Airport won't
recommence passenger flights until Tuesday, at the earliest.
More
metro stations have reopened, covering about about half of the city's
nearly 80 stops. But they close at 7 p.m. instead of the usual 1 a.m.
Some trains are running through Maelbeek station, though it remains closed.
The city has "the feeling of war," one Belgian man said.
Other people welcome the added security.
"It makes me safe," one woman said.
In
the Maelbeek train station, a large, white, large wreath was left by
the Pompes Funebres Islamiques (Islamic Funeral company). The man who
left the flowers said they were leaving others at other sites in
Brussels. And even though he declined an interview, he told CNN, "the
terrorists were not real Muslims."
Children also left notes among the flowers at Maelbeek with messages:
"Let's stay united against this fear," one said.
"Let's show them we are not afraid.," read other
"I am Muslim," said still another. "Peace please."
Can Europe stop the next attack?
Friday's
raid came just days after police, acting on a tip from the taxi driver
who took the alleged attackers to the airport, raided an apartment in
Schaerbeek and discovered 15 kilos (33 pounds) of the explosive TATP,
chemicals, a suitcase containing nails and screws, and other equipment
meant to make explosives, along with an ISIS flag, Belgian federal
prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said.
French and Belgian police also are cooperating on what authorities say was a thwarted attack plot in the Paris area.
On Thursday, French police arrested Reda Kriket, 34, near Paris on suspicion of being in an "advance stage" of planning
his own attack. Afterward, law enforcement found 2 kilograms (4.4
pounds) of TATP and a Kalashnikov rifle in a raid in on his apartment in
Argenteuil, on Paris' outskirts, a source briefed on the investigation
said.
On Saturday, Belgian
authorities said they arrested someone named "Rabah N." in connection
with the investigation into Kriket. Rabah N. is charged with
participating in the activities of a terrorist group, the Belgian
federal prosecutor's office said; information on where and when he was
arrested wasn't immediately available.
Investigators know of additional plots in Europe, in various stages of planning, linked to the same networks that were behind the November's Paris attacks and the latest ones in Brussels, which left 31 people dead and 300 more wounded, according to U.S. counterterrorism officials. Those terrorists are tied to ISIS, the Islamist extremist group that has taken over swaths of Syria and Iraq while also staging attacks elsewhere around the world.
Belgium,
especially, has come under fire. Interior Minister Jan Jambon offered
to resign after acknowledging missed opportunities to stop one of the
suicide bombers, Ibrahim El Bakraoui.
Prime Minister Charles Michel said he talked with Kerry about how "to do better (and) work together to be more efficient."
Michel said, "We need to accept that we need to improve the fight against terrorism in Europe and in Belgium."
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