At least 26 people were killed and dozens more injured as coordinated terrorist attacks rocked the Brussels airport and subway system during rush hour Tuesday morning in the Belgian capital.
Bombings at Zaventem Airport and the metro station in the heavily Muslim section of Maelbeek were almost immediately confirmed as terror attacks. The attack at the airport was reportedly accompanied by shouts in Arabic and gunfire.
"What we feared has happened, we were hit by blind attacks," said Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel.
The attacks came four days after the main suspect in the November Paris attacks was arrested in Brussels, and even as Brussels was braced for new attacks.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. A source told Fox News that a credible ISIS social media account posted the message, “Mosul revenge for the Kuffar capital Brussels,” but it was not definitive that the terror group was behind the attacks.
The bombings in the European Union capital are certain to add new fire to the raging debate of refugees from Muslim nations where terrorist groups are active. Europe has taken in more than a million refugees, and terror groups including ISIS have said they are infiltrating the wave of migrants.
"We are at war,” French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Tuesday. “We have been subjected for the last few months in Europe to acts of war."
The first two explosions rocked the departure hall at the Brussels airport shortly after 8 a.m. local time. Early reports placed the number of dead at 13, with as many as 35 wounded, although the death toll was later revised downward to 11. Witnesses told The Associated Press that one occurred at an American Airlines counter and the other near a Starbucks cafe. American Airlines said in a statement that none of its employees were among the dead or injured and later tweeted from its verified account that the blast did not occur at its check-in row.
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