BRUSSELS: Armed Belgian police, with French support, were hunting one or more fleeing gunmen who wounded three officers during a raid on Tuesday in Brussels linked to the investigation of November’s militant attacks in Paris, officials said.
A southern section of the city was sealed off by police, Reuters journalists at the scene said. Police told residents to stay indoors and two schools close to the scene of the shootings were in lockdown, residents said.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said French police units were also taking part in the raid in the Belgian capital, where investigators believe much of the planning and preparation for the Nov. 13 Daesh attacks were carried out by young French and Belgians, some of whom fought in Syria.
“This operation is connected to the Paris attacks,” a spokesman for Belgium’s federal prosecutor told Reuters.
The area around the raid, near the main north-south railway linking Paris and Amsterdam and an Audi car factory, in the suburb of Forest, was sealed off. A helicopter flew overhead and police commandos were deployed.
A spokeswoman for the local police service in southern Brussels said two officers were lightly wounded in an initial incident and a third was also slightly hurt later.
Belgian security forces have still been actively hunting suspects and associates of Brussels-based militants involved in the attacks in Paris in which 130 people were killed. Some of the attackers came from Brussels.
One of the prime suspects, 26-year-old Brussels-based Frenchman Salah Abdeslam, is still on the run.
He left Paris shortly after his brother blew himself up in the attacks. Belgian authorities are holding 10 people who have arrested in the months since the attacks.
The Belgian capital, home of the European Union as well as Western military alliance NATO, was locked down for days after the Paris on fears of a major incident there. Brussels has maintained a high state of security alert since then, with military patrols a regular sight.
Brussels police hunt fleeing gunman in Paris probe
Brussels police hunt fleeing gunman in Paris probe
Trump discussing how to acquire Greenland; US military always an option, White House says
- Greenland has repeatedly said it does not want to be part of the United States
- Strong statements in support of Greenland from NATO leaders have not deterred Trump
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump and his team are discussing options for acquiring Greenland and the use of the US military in furtherance of the goal is “always an option,” the White House said on Tuesday.
Trump’s ambition of acquiring Greenland as a strategic US hub in the Arctic, where there is growing interest from Russia and China, has been revived in recent days in the wake of the US arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Greenland has repeatedly said it does not want to be part of the United States.
The White House said in a statement in response to queries from Reuters that Trump sees acquiring Greenland as a US national security priority necessary to “deter our adversaries in the Arctic region.”
“The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the US military is always an option at the commander-in-chief’s disposal,” the White House said.
A senior US official said discussions about ways to acquire Greenland are active in the Oval Office and that advisers are discussing a variety of options.
Strong statements in support of Greenland from NATO leaders have not deterred Trump, the official said.
“It’s not going away,” the official said about the president’s drive to acquire Greenland during his remaining three years in office.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said options include the outright US purchase of Greenland or forming a Compact of Free Association with the territory. A COFA agreement would stop short of Trump’s ambition to make the island of 57,000 people a part of the US.
A potential purchase price was not provided.
“Diplomacy is always the president’s first option with anything, and dealmaking. He loves deals. So if a good deal can be struck to acquire Greenland, that would definitely be his first instinct,” the official said.
Administration officials argue the island is crucial to the US due to its deposits of minerals with important high-tech and military applications. These resources remain untapped due to labor shortages, scarce infrastructure and other challenges.
Leaders from major European powers and Canada rallied behind Greenland on Tuesday, saying the Arctic island belongs to its people.
