Update: 4:10 p.m.: While the security level has been lowered from level four to three for much of Belgium, Brussels will remain on highest alert until Monday, Reuters reports. Prime Minister Charles Michel confirmed that universities, schools, and the metro system in the nation's capital would be closed Monday. Security forces are said to be searching for militants at large in the city.
This story was originally published on November 21, 2105.
The Belgian city of Brussels has been placed on its highest alert for a terrorism attack, one week after attacks in Paris killed 130 people.
According to The Associated Press, Belgium’s national Crisis Center has raised its terrorism alert to Level Four, for a “serious and immediate threat.” The alert affects the capital city of Brussels and the region around it. The Belgian government has deployed soldiers and additional police to patrol the city.
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel told a news conference that the alert was based on “precise information [which] pointed to the risk of an attack along the lines of what took place in Paris," in which several individuals could launch a coordinated attack in multiple locations at the same time. The president added that people should be alert, but that there was no need for panic. Reuters reports that the city’s metro system is closed, as well as many museums, movie theaters, and sports centers.
Authorities are still searching for a man who is suspected of being one of the gunmen during the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam. Abdeslam is a French national born in Brussels and the younger brother of deceased attacker Brahim Abdeslam. He is believed to have returned to Belgium in the early hours of November 14. A manhunt is underway.
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