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Brussels Attack: Bomber Brothers Had 'Lengthy' Criminal Records But No Alleged Ties To Terrorism
As investigations continue, authorities in the Belgian capital have determined that the two brothers who were among the suicide bombers had criminal records beforehand.
As the country struggles amid the fallout of the brutal terror attacks on Belgium's capital, investigators are beginning to piece together the puzzle which ultimately resulted in the deaths of dozens of innocents and the injuries of hundreds more.
With authorities in full force, raids, arrests and intense forensic analysis are but a few of the tools being used by investigators. So far, a number of facts about the people who initiated the attack have emerged, and among them include information about the El Bakraoui brothers, who are among those responsible for the bombings in the Brussels airport and subway system.
According to Belgian federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw, the man who identified the two terrorists, the El Bakraou brothers, specifically Ibrahim, had displayed tendencies to be violent even before participating in the deadly terror attack in Brussels.
According to reports, Ibrahim El Bakraoui had been arrested and deported by Turkish authorities to the Netherlands June last year. Speaking on Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan even stated that Turkey has issued warnings about the possible dangers that come with Ibrahim El Bakraoui.
Unfortunately, Belgian authorities did not find any links between Ibrahim El Bakraoui and terrorism. The authorities were only able to confirm that Ibrahim El Bakraoui had a criminal record.
"Despite our warnings that this person was a foreign terrorist fighter, the Belgian authorities could not identify a link to terrorism," Erdogan said.
This has been confirmed by Belgium's Justice Minister, Koen Geens, who stated that the 30-year-old Belgian citizen had been positively determined as an individual without any links to any terrorist group. "At that time, he was not known here for terrorism. He was a common law criminal out on parole," Geens said.
Ibrahim El Bakraoui had already been previously convicted by a criminal court in Brussels after he opened fire on police officers with a Kalashnikov rifle. The would-be terrorist had been participating in a bank robbery then.
His brother, Khalid El Bakraoui, did not stay within the confines of the law either. Just like his brother, his criminal record was not connected to any ties with terrorist groups by authorities.
"These two deceased suicide bombers had lengthy criminal records, but were not linked to terrorism," Van Leeuw said.
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