President Muhammadu Buhari has assured the leadership of Belgium that Nigeria stands in solidarity with that country in its hours of pains and trauma, following the terror attacks at the Brussels airport and the Metro today, during which about 34 people died and 105 sustained various degrees of injuries.
In a statement by the special adviser to the President on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, Buhari condemned what he called the atrocious terrorist attacks on the Zaventem Airport and Maalbeek Metro Station in Brussels earlier today.
The President sympathized with Prime Minister Charles Michel and Belgians over the loss of lives and other national valuables even as he assured the Prime Minister and the people of Belgium that having suffered the horror and anguish of incessant terrorist attacks over several years, Nigeria stands in full solidarity with them on this day of national pain and trauma.
“President Buhari believes that the appalling attack on Brussels reinforces the need for greater international cooperation to effectively confront and destroy global terrorism and its perpetrators.
“The President assures the global community that under his leadership, Nigeria will continue to work with other countries of the world to ensure that terrorism never triumphs over free, peaceful and law-abiding nations and people of the world.”
Meanwhile, the Islamic State (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for brutal attacks that brought blood and chaos to this capital city’s airport and downtown metro stop today, killing dozens of people, wounding many others even as a manhunt was underway for at least one suspected surviving attacker.
Belgium’s federal prosecutor said two deadly explosions tore through the departures hall at Brussels Airport in nearby Zaventem. A short time later, a third blast brought mayhem and death to the Maelbeek metro station, near European Union institutions in central Brussels, prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said.
“We were fearing terrorist attacks and that has now happened,” Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said.
Federal health officials said the airport attack killed at least 11 people and injured 81. Brussels Mayor Yvan Majeur put the subway death toll at 20, with more than 100 wounded there. Belgian public broadcaster RTBF reported a total of 34 dead, but that number could not be immediately verified.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement to the Amaq news agency.
“Islamic State fighters opened fire inside Zaventem airport before several of them detonated their explosive belts,” the statement said. A “martyrdom bomber detonated his explosive belt in the Maelbeek metro station,” it added.
The attack came four days after the arrest of Salah Abdelslam, a suspect in November’s Paris attacks who was apprehended in Brussels after a four-month manhunt. After the arrest, authorities said Abdeslam had been planning another attack, and had a large network of associates. Still, authorities said it was too soon in the investigation to tie Wednesday’s horror to the Paris terror strike.
Belgium raised the terror threat to its maximum level as security teams swept neighborhoods for collaborators. The prosecutor’s office released a photo taken from an airport security camera showing possible suspects before the blasts, and a manhunt was underway for one of them.
An explosive device containing nails, “chemical products” and an Islamic State flag were found during a house search in the Brussels neighborhood of Shaerbeek, the Associated Press reported.
Public transportation was shut down, the airport closed and residents were warned to stay home for hours. Non-essential staff were evacuated from Belgium’s power plants in Doel and Tihange as a precaution, the plants’ French operator, Engie, told Reuters news service.
By late Tuesday, some trains stations were reopening to long lines as people began emerging from their homes. Authorities said the airport would remain closed through Wednesday.
President Obama, speaking in Havana on the third day of a Latin American tour, said the U.S stands with Belgium and that the attack is “yet another reminder that the world must unite, we must be together regardless of nationality or race or faith, in fighting against the scourge of terrorism.”
Authorities in Los Angeles, New York, Washington, Boston and elsewhere across the nation tightened security at transit hubs and tourist sites. There were no indications of specific threats against U.S. targets, authorities said. [myad]
