Brussels prosecutors on Monday detained three more people accused of participating in a terrorist group. A fourth who had been detained for questioning was released.
Belgian police in the Brussels district of MolenbeekImage: picture-alliance/dpa/D. Waem
Belgian prosecutors did not release details on the alleged terrorists' actions or whether they were linked to the March 22 suicide bombings at Brussels airport and in the Brussels subway.
The fourth person was released without charge, according to a statement from the Belgian Federal Prosecutor's Office Monday.
The federal prosecutors named the three as Yassine A., Mohamed B. and Aboubaker O. They said they could not give further information at this stage.
First charges over the weekend
The Belgian authorities on Saturday charged another suspect, Rabah N., with the same offense in connection with the arrest of terror suspect Reda Kriket near Paris two days earlier. Kriket was convicted in absentia in Belgium in 2015 in connection with a network helping jihadi fighters go to Syria, along with Abdelhamid Abaaoud.
He is the suspected ringleader of the November 13 Paris attacks, which left 130 people dead, and is being held in prison in Belgium.
Prosecutors also on Saturday laid the first charges in connection with the Brussels attacks against a suspect named as Faycal C., who faces counts of terrorist murder, attempted terrorist murder and participating in a terrorist group. Faycal C. is suspected of being the third airport suicide bomber who fled the scene.
Belgian Prime Minister Charles MichelImage: picture-alliance/dpa/L. Dieffembacq
Belgium charged a second man linked to a foiled French attack with involvement in a terrorist group Sunday, the federal prosecutor said. The prosecutor named the suspect as Abderamane A., who police shot in the leg after a stand-off at a tram-stop Friday in the Schaerbeek district of Brussels.
Abderamane A. had been sentenced to seven years in prison and banned from entering France for life for aiding in the assassination of the Afghan political and military leader Ahmad Shah Massoud in 2001.
The death toll from last week's Islamic State suicide attacks on Brussels airport and the metro was raised to 35 people Monday.
The global response to the Brussels terrorist attacks
Fear, anger, sadness, vindication - the ways in which influential figures around the world responded to the events in Brussels covered a range of emotions. Here's a look at some of the most notable reactions to that day.
Image: Reuters/F. Lenoir
"Firmness, calm and dignity"
Prime Minister Charles Michel (front row, far right) assured the people of Belgium that the government would do everything in its capacity to protect their way of life. Meanwhile, King Philippe (front row, second from left) delivered a public address in which he called on Belgians to respond to terrorism "with firmness, calm and dignity."
Image: Reuters/F. Lenoir
Grief and solidarity
EU foreign policy head Federica Mogherini broke down during a live press conference in Jordan on the day of the attacks. She expressed solidarity with the victims of terrorism in the Middle East, before cutting her comments short. "Today is a difficult day," she said, sobbing.
Image: Reuters/M.Hamed
"We are at war"
The leaders of France, which only four months earlier had suffered its own devastating attack in Paris, called for a united front against terrorism. "We are at war," said Prime Minister Manuel Valls in the wake of the Brussels bombings.
Image: picture-alliance/abaca
Amid appeals for unity, a call for change
"Our horror in response to the attacks is equally as strong as our determination to fight terrorism," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel. But one of her fiercest critics, Frauke Petry of the anti-immigrant AfD party, took to Facebook to lash out at what she called hypocritical and useless responses to the attacks. "Time for changes!" she wrote.
Image: Getty Images/S.Gallup
Turkey and Gulf states add to chorus of condemnation
Coming just three days after a suicide bomber blew himself up in Istanbul, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu denounced the attacks shortly after they happened. The same day, the secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), an organization representing six Gulf state countries, pledged support for Brussels.
Image: Getty Images/D. Mouhtaropoulos
Divergent reactions
"We will never let them win," said British Prime Minister David Cameron, referring to the terrorists. Other lawmakers weren't so optimistic, however, including Nigel Farage, a "Brexit" advocate. The "idea EU open borders somehow makes us safer is crackers," Farage posted on Twitter.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J. Tallis
A fight against "evil"
"The fight against this evil demands the highest level of international cooperation," said Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been criticized for his support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. In November, a Russian airliner was downed over Egypt in what authorities believe was a bomb attack. IS claimed responsibility for the tragedy.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Tass/M. Metzel
Obama defends his response
The US president responded to critics who argued he should've cut his Latin America trip short following the attacks. "That is how we are going to defeat these terrorist groups," he said while in Argentina. "A lot of it is also going to be to say, 'you do not have power over us. We are strong. Our values are right. You offer nothing except death.'"
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/T. Stargardte/Pool
US presidential candidates respond
While Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders reiterated the need to destroy "IS," Republican candidates continued to raise eyebrows. Ted Cruz said police should "patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized." Donald Trump, meanwhile, said he'd been proven right for once calling Brussels a "hell hole."
