Nine arrests as Brussels raids target baby-faced suicide bomber’s entourage

Police in Brussels have stormed nine homes in the hunt for associates of baby-faced suicide bomber Bilal Hadfi. They searched the addresses, mainly in the so-called jihadi quarter of Molenbeek, targeting the “entourage” of Bilal Hadfi who blew himself up outside the Stade de France. Nine people were arrested, seven of them over an investigation opened at the start of the year into Hadfi’s departure to Syria. Police were also said to be looking for clues to the whereabouts of Salah Abdeslam, who is on the run after taking part in the attacks in Paris on Friday.

Well at school he caused problems, he used to steal cars and threaten people…and then, when he became either 18 or 19, he travelled to Syria.

Neighbour of Bilal Hadfi in Brussels

French-born Hadfi was dubbed the “baby-faced terrorist” following his attack on the stadium as France played Germany in a friendly match. The 20-year-old has been described as a difficult and cold child whose retreat into Islamic extremism intensified as his father died of cancer. He has reportedly fought in Syria alongside IS and had been living in Belgium since. Belgium’s security services have been facing criticism following the coordinated attacks in the French capital, which killed 129 people, as at least two of the attackers were from Brussels.

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