Terrorist explosions at Zaventem Airport in Brussels (2016/03/22)

[Renegade334]

2 Explosions at Zaventem Airport in Brussels.

• Dernière Heure article (French)
• Yahoo! News article (English)

Some sources say 1 dead, others say 11 and 25 injured. One bomb detonated in the charter area, the other in the arrivals hall. Preliminary reports suggest that Najim Laachraoui (AKA Soufiane Kayal), the explosives specialist behind the Paris attacks, provided the hardware for the bombings, since his DNA was recently found during the latest investigations.

FFS.

EDIT: One explosion in the Maelbeek metro station (in French; click here for MSN article in English). No casualty reports yet.

[Sheba]

The timing is a little too convenient. I mean, Abdeslam have been captured days ago. Either ISIS or Abdeslam's cell wanted to make a statement. This also could explain why Abdeslam let himself be captured, because he likely knew that another terror attack was under way.

[monir]

Images posted in this twitter account:

[Renegade334]

And now my mother is stuck downtown (she works a few hundred meters from Maelbeek, but she doesn't use that station) because the metro network is being shut down and the city is adopting a Level 4 alert posture. There are unconfirmed reports of explosions in other stations, but I think those are the result of a panic wave; right now only Maelbeek seems to have been hit.

Recent tidbits reveal shots were fired and shouts in Arabic were issued before the explosions took place in Zaventem, so there's a possibility those were suicide attacks. A third, unexploded bomb appears to have been discovered.

[OH&S]

Various news sources are confirming that the airport bombings were done by suicide bombers. Though its still up in the air about the ones on the metro.

---

Seriously though, every time this happens I get depressed. Its like every time the previous terror attack is about to disappear from the back of my mind, ISIS decides to strike again and continually remind me of their wretched existence.

[Renegade334]

Oh FFS. First image of Maelbeek bombing:



As many as 23 dead, total (Zaventem+Maelbeek).

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by OH&S

Seriously though, every time this happens I get depressed. Its like every time the previous terror attack is about to disappear from the back of my mind, ISIS decides to strike again and continually remind me of their wretched existence.

That's really what terrorist attacks are for. They are there to keep you on your toes, it couldn't actually defeat a country.

You are still far more likely to die from an accident than a terror attack. But the human brain judges likelihood from what one hears about the most often. Part of terror attacks is that it makes the news and gets heard nationally, so it is easier to assume it is a bigger danger than it actually is.

If anything, terror attacks is a substitute of traditional warfare. There is just far less citizens dying to enemy attacks than ever before, terror attacks is the shadow of war's former self.

Of course, it is still horrible. A shadow of war is still war. But since the purpose of terrorism is to keep you terrified, I think the most important civilian response is to take the threat seriously, but properly and not over react.

[risingstar3110]

23 deaths and 35 injured apparently.

It's just horrible. Is it the retaliation for the capture of Abdeslam?

[Renegade334]

Presumably, yes. A Belgian official, no later than yesterday, even warned that something was imminent, because "once you find both terrorists and weapons at the same location, you know something is going to happen soon."

Prophetic words, indeed.

And the tally now apparently stands at 28 dead, 55 wounded (10 critically). City is going into lockdown, events are being cancelled, shops closed, public transportation is shut down and the army is in the streets, wearing full combat gear and helmets instead of berets or caps. Not sure how my mother is going to come back home, especially since the taxi services AND the mobile networks are currently saturated with calls from the citizenry. Heck, I'm not even sure how she'll go to work tomorrow, I can only hope her employer will give her a few days off (she steps off at Arts-Loi, the station AFTER Maelbeek, where the metro was headed).

EDIT: bloody news outlets, they don't know how to properly parse their data and reports.
Tally for Zaventem: 11 dead, 85 wounded.
Tally for Maelbeek: 15 dead, 55 wounded (10 critically).

[KiraYamatoFan]

Absolutely disgusted. Those people are utter cowards of the worst kind.

[monir]

Faces of terror as posted in Times. They are trying to ID the guy on the right who they think is still at large.

[Renegade334]

"Too close to home for comfort" takes another meaning today for me: I just got off the phone with my neighbor (previous owner of my new home and one heck of a generous woman), whose son works in the Maelbeek/Arts-Loi area and, apparently, the train that blew up was the one he usually takes in the morning. It's only due to a caprice of fate that he came to work an hour early today. If he hadn't taken a head start to complete an assignment given by his boss, I guess I'd be writing a condolences letter to my neighbor right now.

Tally is now 30 dead or so. Twenty in the subway, eleven in the airport.

And idiots in the city are now planning to have a fricking march downtown this Sunday to manifest the country's defiance towards ISIS and pay respects to the dead. Have they no brains? Crowds are the one thing that should be avoided now.

Anyway, the ball is rolling. Police just conducted an investigation in the Schaerbeek borough and found explosive chemicals (some reports state a fully functional device) and an ISIS flag.

[monir]

Originally Posted by Renegade334

"Too close to home for comfort" takes another meaning today for me: I just got off the phone with my neighbor (previous owner of my new home and one heck of a generous woman), whose son works in the Maelbeek/Arts-Loi area and, apparently, the train that blew up was the one he usually takes in the morning. It's only due to a caprice of fate that he came to work an hour early today. If he hadn't taken a head start to complete an assignment given by his boss, I guess I'd be writing a condolences letter to my neighbor right now.

Tally is now 30 dead or so. Twenty in the subway, eleven in the airport.

And idiots in the city are now organizing a fricking march downtown this Sunday to manifest the country's defiance towards ISIS and pay respects to the dead. Have they no brains? Crowds are the one thing that should be avoided now.

Super lucky of him. How is your mother doing? Has she come home yet?

[Renegade334]

Nope. She'll have to sleep at her workplace (she's kind of a concierge in a building that mainly caters to embassy personnel temporarily assigned here in Belgium), but every fricking shop in the area is closed and she has no idea what she's going to eat tonight.

As for buses and tramways, it's the strict minimum (three lines, all above ground, as well as emergency shuttles going from the center of the city and outwards), and there is no direct way for her to get back home (and back to work tomorrow). To make things even more annoying, the mobile networks are so saturated I'm losing connection every ten minutes or so, so it's a hassle to get in touch with her in the first place.

[monir]

Originally Posted by Renegade334

Nope. She'll have to sleep at her workplace (she's something of a concierge in a building that mainly caters to embassy personnel temporarily assigned here in Belgium), but every fricking shop is closed and she has no idea what she's going to eat tonight.

As for buses and tramways, it's the strict minimum (three lines and emergency shuttles), and there is no direct line back to home. And the mobile networks are so saturated I'm losing connection every ten minutes or so, so it's hassle to get in touch with her in the first place.

Good to hear. As long as she is safe, she will manage the rest.

[Renegade334]

Oh, she'll be okay. She was born a fireball; rather than walk away, she'll come charging straight towards the source of her problems to give it hell and a hefty kick in the arse. That's how she is.

OTOH, I don't know how the current situation is going to affect the both of us; the subway that blew up at Maelbeek was going to the Arts-Loi station, and my mother gets off there from a second subway line running perpendicular to the one that was hit (and something like 15-30 minutes before it happened). I'm right now seriously considering asking her to take an alternate route to get to her workplace, even if it is a longer one.

Yes, paranoia is settling in, I know. But what can I say? Soldiers were patrolling the stations since the Paris event, and yet the attack still took place. We now have to be careful where we go.

[Eisdrache]

Glad to hear your family is safe.

However I cannot agree with your statement about crowds. It is the intention of these bombings to instill fear in the hearts of people rather than kill as many as possible. Like someone said above for example it's more likely in the US to be fatally shot by a little kid playing with their parent's gun than dying to a terrorist attack. It is necessary however to show them that people aren't giving in to fear.

Unfortunately there will never be a 100% safety against these attacks even in the most rigorous police state.

[Renegade334]

1. Had it been any other group whose objective is to use manslaughter in order to make a political statement and coerce governments (and would thus relent when they feel they made a difference), I would agree with you, but this is ISIS - the group that kills for the sake of killing. Conventional logic doesn't always apply to a faction whose endeavor is to hurt the "infidels" whenever, wherever, and the more victims, the better.
2. The Belgian members of the ISIS cell are on the run and under extreme pressure. Desperate individuals tend to be very unpredictable. After all, it is strongly suspected the four attackers committed the airport and subway attacks in a hurry, after hearing a well-publicized report from Sven Mary that "Abdeslam was cooperating with authorities" (the lawyer was probably embellishing reality, though: the bastard is most likely only answering "yes" or "no" to minor questions from his legal counsel and keeping mum about the rest).
3. If I were ISIS, I would bomb the said crowd to prove that their defiance doesn't mean squat to us and we're still there in play. Call me callous, call me a monster, but that's what I'm afraid ISIS would do: they had a big setback with Abdeslam's arrest and they had to regain the initiative. Every target is good for the taking now, especially for people who are nothing but dead men walking and do not worry about tomorrow and the day after (literally).

My mother came back home yesterday after STIB reinstated half of the bus and tramway lines, but there is still a big black hole in terms of public transportation covering the entire European sector (no surprise), where her workplace is. She had to return there this morning using the same alternate route, an hour early due to oversaturation of the said bus lines (many drivers aren't even reporting for duty, which is why I'll be monitoring the STIB news feed for any service cancellation today). I advised her to bring snacks (even sandwiches) and drinks should she once again be marooned there for another night, with no open shop in the vicinity.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Renegade334

1. Had it been any other group whose objective is to use manslaughter in order to make a political statement and coerce governments (and would thus relent when they feel they made a difference), I would agree with you, but this is ISIS - the group that kills for the sake of killing. Conventional logic doesn't always apply to a faction whose endeavor is to hurt the "infidels" whenever, wherever, and the more victims, the better.
2. The Belgian members of the ISIS cell are on the run and under extreme pressure. Desperate individuals tend to be very unpredictable. After all, it is strongly suspected the four attackers committed the airport and subway attacks in a hurry, after hearing a well-publicized report from Sven Mary that "Abdeslam was cooperating with authorities" (the lawyer was probably embellishing reality, though: the bastard is most likely only answering "yes" or "no" to minor questions from his legal counsel and keeping mum about the rest).
3. If I were ISIS, I would bomb the said crowd to prove that their defiance doesn't mean squat to us and we're still there in play. Call me callous, call me a monster, but that's what I'm afraid ISIS would do: they had a big setback with Abdeslam's arrest and they had to regain the initiative. Every target is good for the taking now, especially for people who are nothing but dead men walking and do not worry about tomorrow and the day after (literally).

They didn't bomb the Paris gatherings after November attacks. Though some prankster caused a panic. And of course, that's no guarantee they won't do it in the future.

[Yu Ominae]

Channel News Asia got an update that Abdeslam is willing to head to France as said by his lawyer.