'Security alert in Brussels' after massive blackout plunges entire centre of EU capital into darkness-BySam Adams

The loss of electricity across the Belgian capital has sparked terror attack fears, although the cause of the outage has not been confirmed

Brussels has been plunged into darkness after a massive power cut.
The loss of electricity across the Belgian capital has reportedly sparked terror attack fears, although the cause of the outage has not been confirmed.
Belgium and other European countries are on high alert following several devastating terrorist incidents over the past 12 months.
Brussels is home to a number of key EU bodies, including the European Commission and European Council, both of which are situated in the centre of the city.
The sounds of police sirens can be heard coming from the centre of the city in footage posted online by people tonight.

Belgian security personnel ares reinforcing main sites across Brussels as the blackout causes transport chaos.
It has not been revealed when the power will be turned back on, but incredible images from across the city show just a handful of buildings with any lights still on - and they are presumably served by generators.
The Molonbeek area of the city was the centre of an intensive anti-terror operation last year as cops hunted for Salah Abdeslam in connection with the Paris bombings.
Abdeslam was Europol's most wanted man following the Paris attacks and became the target of one of the largest manhunts in modern European history.He was finally seized in a police raid in the Molenbeek area of Brussels after four months on the run.
The so-called Islamic State claimed responsibility for the November 2015 Paris attacks which were the deadliest on France since World War II.

Salah Abdeslam, 26 (Photo: AFP)

Gunmen killed 89 people at an Eagles of Death Metal concert at the Bataclan theatre, three suicide bombers struck outside the Stade de France during a football match, and there were more mass shootings and a suicide bombing at bars and restaurants.
Last month a prime suspect once known as the ‘Man in the Hat’ who was allegedly involved in terror attacks on Paris and Brussels was formally charged with a range of terrorist offences.
Mohamed Abrini, 32, faces multiple life sentences after a brief appearance in front of a judge in the French capital.
Under conditions of utmost security, he arrived in Paris from Brussels in an armed convoy and was taken in a specified court that deals with terrorist defendants in the centre of the city.
A prosecuting source said: "As part of the investigation following the November 13 2015 attacks in Paris, Mohamed Abrini was handed over to the French judicial authorities for a period of one day."
Abrini, a Belgian passport holder, was caught in Brussels in April last year after also being linked with the March 22 attacks on the Belgian capital.

(Photo: Getty)

Investigators said that the same Islamic State gang hit both cities, causing a total of 162 deaths using AK-47s and explosives.
Abrini was dubbed the ‘Man in the hat’ after being caught on CCTV at Brussels aiport, where 16 died in an attack by suicide bombers. He fled from the airport, allegedly without detonating a suitcase bomb he was carrying, along with his accomplices Najim Laachraoui and Ibrahim El Bakraoui, who both died.
Abrini grew up in the Molenbeek district of Brussels with Salah Abdeslam. Abdeslam also dumped his suicide device, and ran away before being arrested in Brussels later on.
He is currently in a high security prison near Paris, awaiting trial. Abrini, of Moroccan origin, was also caught on camera at a petrol station north of Paris two days before the November 13 attacks with prime suspect Abdeslam.
Belgian authorities have charged Abrini with ‘participation in the activities of a terrorist group and terrorist murders’ following the atrocity in Paris.
Investigators said he briefly visited Syria last year and his younger brother Suleiman, 20, died there. A State of Emergency was imposed in France following both attacks, and the country remains on the highest state of alert.

Culled from Mirror