Brussels attackers ‘identified,’ flights restarted

BRUSSELS/BERLIN: Three suicide bombers who struck Brussels airport and a metro train in attacks claimed by the Daesh were identified Wednesday, as the manhunt for a fourth suspect whose suitcase bomb failed to detonate intensified.
Prosecutors said brothers Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui had carried out attacks at Zaventem airport and Maalbeek metro station, while bomb-making expert Najim Laachraoui was identified by police sources as the second airport bomber.
Authorities stepped up the manhunt for a third airport attacker, seen wearing a hat and white jacket on CCTV footage from Zaventem departure hall, whose explosive-packed suitcase failed to go off with the two other suicide bombers.
The three identified suspects behind the twin assaults, which killed 31 and injured 300, have been linked to the Paris attacks last November, underscoring the threat European nations face from the militant group.
Turkey said it had detained Ibrahim El Bakraoui near the Syrian border in June 2015 and deported him as a “foreign terrorist fighter,” piling more pressure on Belgian authorities who have faced criticism for failing to tackle the extremist menace.
Brussels Airlines is restarting some commercial flights from Belgium on Thursday, using the airports of Liege and Antwerp, while its main hub in the Belgian capital remains closed.
The airport, which serves over 23 million passengers a year, remains closed until further notice, forcing airlines to scramble to reroute over the busy Easter weekend.
“There is much damage and we do not have access to the building as the investigation is still under way,” the airport said on its Twitter account on Thursday.
Brussels Airlines, 45 percent owned by Germany’s Lufthansa , said it will not be able to operate a full schedule, given the smaller size of Liege and Antwerp.
The carrier will run just 15 short-haul aircraft and two long-haul planes on Thursday, out of its fleet of 50, a spokeswoman said.
It is prioritizing flights to popular holiday destinations in Spain, France and Italy over the Easter period, she said. Brussels Airlines, which also serves many African destinations, sent five empty planes to Africa to bring back passengers and is rerouting two planes from Africa to Zurich.
Ryanair is making the most of Charleroi, around 48 km from the Belgian capital and the site of the low-cost Irish carrier’s first base in continental Europe. It is rerouting all of its Brussels Zaventem flights through Charleroi until the end of Tuesday.
Smaller carriers including Vueling and Jetairfly, owned by TUI, are flying into Liege, Charleroi and Ostend.