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Brussels on security clampdown as authorities warn of 'imminent' attack

November 21, 2015 21:55 IST

Heavily armed police and soldiers patrolled key intersections, subways were closed and many stores shut their doors in Belgium's capital on Saturday as the government warned of a threat of Paris-style attacks.

Belgian soldiers and a police officer control the documents of a woman in a shopping street in central Brussels, after security was tightened in Belgium following the fatal attacks in Paris. Photograph: Youssef Boudlal/ Reuters

At least one suspect from the deadly Paris attacks is at large, and was last seen crossing into Belgium.

Prime Minister Charles Michel said the decision to raise the threat alert to the highest level was taken "based on quite precise information about the risk of an attack like the one that happened in Paris ... where several individuals with arms and explosives launch actions, perhaps even in several places at the same time."

The Belgian Federal Prosecutor's office on Saturday said that several weapons were discovered during the search of the home of one of three people arrested in connection with the Paris attacks, but said no explosives were found.

Belgian soldiers and a police officer patrol in central Brussels, after security was tightened in Belgium following the fatal attacks in Paris. Photograph: Youssef Boudlal/ Reuters

Authorities across Europe, the Mideast and in Washington are trying to determine how a network of primarily French and Belgian attackers with links to Islamic extremists in Syria plotted and carried out the deadliest violence in France in decades, and how many may still be on the run.

A new potential link emerged Saturday in Turkey, where authorities said they detained a 26-year-old Belgian suspected of connections to Islamic extremists â€” and possibly to the Paris attacks.

The private Dogan news agency identified him as Ahmet Dahmani and said he is suspected of having explored areas in Paris that were targeted in the attacks.

Belgian soldiers and a police officer patrol a shopping street in central Brussels, after security was tightened in Belgium following the fatal attacks in Paris. Photograph: Youssef Boudlal/ Reuters

Belgium's national Crisis Center has raised its terrorism alert for the Brussels region to Level 4, which indicates a "serious and immediate threat." Belgium's special security Cabinet held an emergency meeting on Saturday morning.

Brussels was the home of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the suspected organiser of the November 13 Paris attacks, and Belgium has filed charges of "participation in terrorist attacks and participation in the activities of a terrorist organization" against three suspects relating to the Paris attacks.

A Belgian soldier stands near a poster for Le Soir (The Evening) weekly news magazine showing a photograph of the Paris attack that reads, "We are at war", after security was tightened following the fatal attacks in Paris, in Brussels, Belgium. Photograph: Francois Lenoir/ Reuters

At least one Paris attacker, Salah Abdeslam, crossed into Belgium the morning after the attacks. A Paris police official and the Paris prosecutor's office said Saturday they had no firm information on Abdeslam's whereabouts, including whether he was in the Brussels area.

Heavily armed police and soldiers patrolled Saturday morning at key intersections of the Belgian capital, a city of more than 1 million that is home to the headquarters of the European Union, the NATO alliance and offices of many multinational corporations.

Belgian soldiers patrol in central Brussels, after security was tightened in Belgium following the fatal attacks in Paris. Photograph: Youssef Boudlal/ Reuters

Residents were recommended to avoid gatherings, train stations, airports and commercial districts. Service was halted on the Brussels Metro, as well as on streetcar lines that run underground.

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