Over 120 kg of explosives used in Brussels attacks, court learns

From the Brussels Times

The Brussels Court of Assizes, which is currently presiding over the trial of suspects involved in the Brussels terror attacks at the Maelbeek metro station and Zaventem Airport, listened to the testimony of an expert who was able to trace the equipment used by the IS militants in their 2016 attack.

The investigators revealed the detailed instructions that the terror suspects had received for the use of the powerful explosive TATP, of which traces were found in an apartment raided by police on Rue Max Roos in Schaerbeek. The court also began to present its first observations made at one of the terrorists’ hideouts on Rue du Dries in Forest, the Belga News Agency reports.

The hearing continued with a presentation by Mohamed Fahmi, a theologist working with to the Federal Police. The witness showed how the Islamic State terror organisation had claimed responsibility for the attacks as early 22 March, through propaganda articles, and videos produced in several languages.

According to Fahmi, the videos exaggerated the facts behind the attacks, mixing lies and praising the attacks to attempt to sway the public towards the ideology of IS. The objective of the attack, the expert claimed, was also to send the following message: “Stop your war against us, or we will continue to carry out attacks.”

In the afternoon, an expert from the Belgian Army’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Destruction (Service Sedee) detailed how instructions for the use of the explosives employed by the attackers were found at the apartment in Schaerbeek.  The expert notably revealed that the first bomb detonated at Zaventem airport was not placed on a luggage cart when it exploded, as previously believed. In had instead been placed on the ground by suicide bomber Ibrahim El Bakraoui.

While some explosives require specialist knowledge to fabricate, the bomb expert says that the production process of TATP was not considered complex, stating that “a child can do it by following the instructions to the letter”

In total, the terrorists used 120 kg of explosives in their senseless murder of 32 people. An additional 6 kg of explosive materials were recovered from the Max Roos apartment. Experts believe that it took the jihadists 10 days to fabricate the bombs.

At the end of the afternoon, investigators returned to the topic of the shooting that took place on Rue du Dries in Forest, on 15 March 2016, which occurred between Belgian special and forces and Mohamed Belkaïd, who died to protect the escape of the two living suspects Salah Abdeslam and Sofien Ayari.