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Belgian Police Forces Shoot at Possible ‘Bomb-Laden’ Car in Molenbeek | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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People walk in a street in the suburb of Molenbeek, after security was tightened in Belgium following the fatal attacks in Paris on Friday, in Brussels, Belgium, November 17, 2015. REUTERS/Yves Herman


Belgian police fired a shot at a vehicle in the Brussels district of Molenbeek, Belgium’s federal prosecutors said on Tuesday.

Police forces later called in a bomb squad after the driver claimed to have explosives on board.

Molenbeek, a poor district of the capital, gained notoriety after an ISIS cell based there mounted suicide attacks on Paris in November 2015 that killed 130 people. Associates of that group attacked Brussels itself four months later, killing 32 people.

Police set up a premise off the area and told residents to remain indoors while military units checks for explosives, a spokeswoman for the prosecutors said.

“The man was driving suspiciously and failed to stop at a traffic light,” spokeswoman Ine van Wymersch told Reuters.

“When the police arrested him, he claimed to have explosives so not to take any risk, the army has been called in to check.”