Khalid & Brahim El Bakraoui: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

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A still shot from a CCTV camera shows three men suspected in bombings at the Brussels airport.

Brothers Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui have been named by the Belgian news outlet RTBF as two of the three suspected suicide bombers in Tuesday’s terror attack on the Brussels airport.

The brothers, ages 27 and 30, were known to police prior to the attacks, the news outlet reports. One brother, Brahim El Bakraoui, is suspected of blowing himself up at the airport. His brother, Khalid, is suspected of detonating a bomb on a subway train.

The third suicide bomber has been identified by the local media as Najim Laachraoui, a 24-year-old who was already wanted by police as a suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks. He is suspected to have been a bombmaker.

Police are searching for a fourth suspect seen on surveillance video, who has not yet been named.

More than 30 people were killed and at least 200 others were injured in a series of blasts in the Belgian capital Tuesday morning. The first two bombings happened at the airport, with the third occurring about an hour later on a train in a metro station.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Here’s what you need to know:


1. The Brothers Are Suspected of Blowing Themselves Up in Separate Bombings

The brothers are believed to have blown themselves up during the attack at the airport, which occurred at about 8 a.m., and then at the metro station RTBF reports.

The bombs detonated by the terrorists are thought to have been concealed in suitcases.

Surveillance footage from the airport shows two men, Brahim El Bakraoui and Najim Laachraoui walking in the airport while pushing luggage carts. They are dressed in all black, and each has a black glove only on his one hand. A third man, dressed in white, is suspected of being involved in the attack, but is believed to have survived.

Khalid El Bakraoui is believed to have detonated a bomb at the metro station an hour later.


2. They Were Wanted After a Deadly Raid on a Brussels Apartment Rented by One of the Brothers

A member of Belgian police leaves on March 16, 2016 the house where a shooting took place the day before during an anti-terror operation in the rue du Dries-Driesstraat in Forest-Vorst, Brussels. (Getty)

A member of Belgian police leaves on March 16, 2016 the house where a shooting took place the day before during an anti-terror operation in the rue du Dries-Driesstraat in Forest-Vorst, Brussels. (Getty)

The brothers were wanted by police after a deadly anti-terror raid on an apartment in the Forest-Vorst section of Brussels just last week, DH.be reported.

The apartment was being rented by Khalid El Bakraoui, according to media reports in Belgium. The brothers fled from the scene.

An Algerian immigrant with ties to ISIS was killed by police during the same raid.


3. One of the Brothers Shot a Police Officer During a Robbery & the Other Was Convicted of Carjackings

Brussels terror attack airport

People are seen walking near the shattered glass facade of the departure hall of Brussels Airport in Zaventem following twin blasts on March 22, 2016.
(Getty)

The brothers both had criminal records for violent crimes committed in Belgium, the local newspaper La Libre reports.

Brahim El Bakraoui was convicted in 2010 of shooting at police with a Kalashnikov rifle during an armed robbery. He wounded one of the officers, according to the newspaper. He was sentenced to nine years in prison. It is not clear when he was released.

Khalid El Bakraoui was sentenced to five years of probation in 2011 for a series of carjackings, the newspaper reports.


4. The Third Man Seen With the Brothers Is Also a Suspect in the Paris Terror Attacks

Police are searching for this man in connection to the airport bombings.

Police are searching for this man in connection to the airport bombings.

Authorities are still searching for a third man seen on the surveillance video with the two suspects. He has been identified by Belgian media as Najim Laachraoui.

The 24-year-old man, who has also used the name Soufiane Kayal, was already wanted by authorities in connection with the Paris attacks. He is believed to be part of the same ISIS terror cell that carried out those attacks last November. One of the leaders of that group, Salah Abdeslam, was arrested last week in Brussels.

His DNA was found on explosives used in Paris, AFP reported.

He is thought to have survived the attack on Tuesday. Federal police released his photo and asked the public to contact them with information.


4. Police Found a Nail-Filled Bomb, Chemicals & an ISIS Flag in a Raid on an Apartment After the Bombings

Police officers carry out searches in a building in Schaerbeek on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in Brussels that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. (Getty)

Police officers carry out searches in a building in Schaerbeek on March 22, 2016, following triple bomb attacks in Brussels that killed about 35 people and left more than 200 people wounded. (Getty)

The so-called Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the bombings.

In a statement issued through its media service, ISIS said:

Islamic State fighters carried out a series of bombings with explosive belts and devices on Tuesday, targeting an airport and a central metro station in the center of the Belgian capital Brussels, a country participating in the international coalition against the Islamic State.

Belgian federal prosecutors said investigators found an explosive device containing nails, “chemical products” and an ISIS flag during a raid after the bombings, the Associated Press reports.

Authorities were led to the apartment by a taxi driver who drove the three men to the airport, without knowing of their plan. The taxi driver contacted police after the bombing.