Summary

  • EU interior and justice ministers due to hold a crisis meeting in Brussels

  • More than 60 people still in a critical condition following the blasts, medical officials say

  • Two suicide bombers named by prosecutors as brothers Khalid and Brahim el-Bakraoui

  • Airport blasts killed at least 11 while 20 died in explosion at Maelbeek metro station

  • So-called Islamic State has said it was behind the attacks

  1. 'We found bomber's written testament'published at 13:43 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2016

    Belgian prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw says police have found a "bomber's written testament'

    Media caption,

    Belgian prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw says police have found a "bomber's written testament'

  2. Death toll 'expected to increase in the coming days'published at 13:38 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2016

    BBC assistant editor tweets:

  3. IS in Europe: The race to the deathpublished at 13:29 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2016

    Salah Abdeslam was arrested in the Brussels suburb of MolenbeekImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Salah Abdeslam was arrested in the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek

    Getting captured fighters of the group known as Islamic State (IS) to talk is one of the crucial ways in which Western intelligence services have built up the picture of its European network. That is why it is hoped the capture of Salah Abdeslam, one of the suspected leading members of the cell behind the Paris attacks, will provide crucial intelligence on the current state of IS's network and its future plans. 

    Read BBC report: IS in Europe: The race to the death

  4. French PM pays tribute to Brussels victimspublished at 13:25

    BBC Monitoring

    French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has paid tribute to the victims of the bomb attack, external in Brussels' Maelbeek metro station, Belgian public broadcaster RTBF reports. Mr Valls attended Wednesday morning's ceremony together with his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel.

    French Prime minister Manuel VallsImage source, AFP
  5. Key points from Belgian prosecutor's press conferencepublished at 13:01 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2016

    • The suspect in middle of the CCTV photo (below) identified through DNA as Brahim el-Bakraoui – born in Brussels
    • The second suicide bomber on left in photo not identified
    • The third suspect on right in photo left bag containing explosive detonators – the biggest bomb of the three – and ran away. He has not been formally identified
    • There were "luckily" no injuries from third bomb because of the work of security authorities
    • The third suspect is on run
    • Maelbeek Metro explosion was in the second carriage while it was still at station
    • The suicide bomber in Metro attack has been identified as Khalid el-Bakraoui, the brother of Ibrahim
    • Khalid has a criminal record but it is not related to terrorism

    The three men who are suspected of taking part in the attacks at Belgium"s Zaventem AirportImage source, AP
  6. Brussels film festival to go aheadpublished at 12:55 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2016

    Bozar Centre for Fine Arts message on their websiteImage source, Bozar Centre for Fine Arts
    Image caption,

    The Bozar Centre for Fine Arts, which is the main venue for the Fantastic Film Festival posted this message on their website

    Brussels' Fantastic Film Festival is to go ahead next week despite the terror attacks.

    Brussels film festival to go ahead

    Brussels' Fantastic Film Festival is to go ahead next week despite Tuesday's terror attacks.

    Read More
  7. Police operation continues in Anderlechtpublished at 12:44 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2016

    Masked Belgian police secure the entrance to a building in AnderlechtImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Police operations in Anderlecht - where police arrested a man initially reported to be suspected airport bomber Najim Laachraoui - are continuing. Authorities have now made clear that he was not the man who they detained.

  8. DNA confirmation of Brahim el-Bakraoui's role in airport explosionpublished at 12:35 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2016

    Mr Van Leeuw told reporters Brahim el-Bakraoui's role in the airport explosion was confirmed through DNA evidence, but the second bomber at the airport has not been identified.  

  9. Role of brothers confirmedpublished at 12:28 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2016

    Mr Van Leeuw says 31 people are confirmed dead in the attacks and 261 wounded. He confirms that Khalid el-Bakraoui was the suicide bomber at the Maelbeek metro station, where about 20 people died and his brother Brahim was the suicide bomber at Zaventem airport. 

  10. Bomb suspect 'still on the run'published at 12:17 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2016
    Breaking

    The third Brussels suspect is still on the run after his suitcase bomb - containing the biggest charge at the airport - failed to explode, Belgian prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw says. 

    Frederic Van Leeuw
  11. Terrorists 'will get through in UK'published at 12:05 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2016

    Terrorists "will get through" the UK's defences to carry out an attack similar to that in Brussels, former home secretary Lord Reid has told the BBC.

    He said: "Politicians ought to be honest with the British people and tell them, 'This will happen.'"

  12. Brussels attacks 'blow to heart of Europe'published at 12:04 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2016

    Belgian newspaper De Tijd's headline, saying, "Right in our heart"Image source, De Tijd

    European media comment on the Brussels attacks tries to strike a balance between the need to enhance security while also defending basic freedoms.

    Brussels attacks 'blow to heart of Europe'

    European media comment on the Brussels attacks tries to strike a balance between the need to enhance security while also defending basic freedoms.

    Read More
  13. Lord Reid: I expect another attack on the UKpublished at 11:58 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2016

    Media caption,

    Lord Reid: 'The terrorists will get through'

    The former Home Secretary expects the UK to be targeted again at some point in the future.

    Lord Reid: I expect another attack on the UK

    The former Home Secretary expects the UK to be targeted again at some point in the future.

    Read More
  14. Applause after Brussels minute's silencepublished at 11:52 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2016

    Media caption,

    Brussels attacks: Applause after minute's silence

  15. Football friendly cancelledpublished at 11:33 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2016

    The Belgian Football Association cancels next week's friendly match against Portugal in the wake of the attacks. 

    The match was due to have taken place on 29 March in Brussels.

    "For security reasons and precaution, the City of Brussels has asked the Belgian FA to cancel the match," it says.

  16. Brussels airport remains closedpublished at 11:31 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2016

    Brussels airport will remain closed on Thursday, its chief executive has said. 

    "There will be no passenger flights into and out of Brussels airport tomorrow (24 March)," Arnaud Feist said in a tweet on Wednesday.

    A Belgian soldier controls an access point to Brussels airport in ZaventemImage source, AFP
  17. Security high amid Belgian manhuntpublished at 11:29 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2016

    Media caption,

    The army is visible around the European Union's government buildings

  18. 'Steadily growing' threatpublished at 11:28 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2016

    "The attacks in Brussels epitomise a steadily growing terrorist threat to Europe increasingly shaped by militants linked to so-called Islamic State (IS)," Petter Nesser, author of Islamist Terrorism in Europe: A History tells the BBC.

    "The terrorists belong to the new generation of jihadis in Europe, mobilised by the Syria war... the Belgian branch was particularly effective in sending foreign fighters to Syria."

    He adds: "Many of the European terrorists now flagged as IS were part of al-Qaeda affiliated networks a short while ago. Al-Qaeda has tried to launch similar operations as those in France and Belgium, without success"

    He says more attacks are likely. "With up to 6,000 European fighters in the Middle East, increased terrorist funding, more sophisticated propaganda and recruitment, and communications encryption tools, European security services face enormous capacity challenges."

     , external

  19. Queen 'deeply shocked and saddened'published at 11:21 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2016

    British Monarchy tweets...

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  20. Prime suspect 'not arrested'published at 11:20 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2016

    A suspect arrested in Brussels this morning was not Najim Laachraoui, thought to be one of three men in a CCTV image taken before the Zaventem airport attack, some Belgian media are now saying 

    The newspaper, DH, which first reported the story, says the man detained earlier on Wednesday in the Anderlecht district had been misidentified. 

    Police and prosecutors have not commented on the reports and are due to hold a news conference within the next hour.