Who Is Najim Laachraoui? Suspect In Brussels Bombing Captured On Security Footage

UPDATE: 3:30 p.m. EDT – Brussels terror attack suspect Najim Laachraoui who was earlier reported as being at large, was identified as one of the suicide bombers who blew himself up Tuesday at Zaventem Airport, Agence France-Presse reported.

Laachraoui was identified by at DNA test along with Ibrahim el-Bakraoui as two of the three airport attackers. A third suspect who participated in the airport bombing remains at large and authorities have not released his name. The fourth suspect Khalid el-Bakraoui died during the attack the Maelbeek metro station in central Brussels.

Laachraoui’s DNA was also found on explosives used in November 13 Paris attacks that left 130 people dead. Prosecutors said Laachraoui travelled to Syria in 2013.

Original story:

A man wanted in connection with deadly attacks in Brussels Tuesday has been identified as Najim Laachraoui by officials. Dual bombings at a Brussels airport and train station killed at least 31 people and injured more than 200.

Two explosions struck Zaventem airport in Brussels early morning Tuesday, which were soon followed by a third blast at the Maelbeek Metro Station near the city's European Union buildings. Information about the victims has begun to surface slowly, with British and U.S. nationals among the wounded. The attacks struck near the heart of several important governing institutions in the EU's de facto capital.

Brussels police issued a notice that a man who was seen pushing a luggage cart through the airport was wanted in connection with the attacks. He was pictured on closed-circuit security footage with two other suspects who are believed to have blown themselves up in the attack. The men "very likely committed a suicide attack," said federal prosecutor Frédéric Van Leeuw at a news conference.

The third man, believed to be Laachraoui, was seen on the footage wearing a tan jacket and a black hat. When Brussels police issued the photo of the third man, they said he was being actively sought. Laachraoui was first named by Belgian police on Monday when they identified him as Soufiane Kayal, suspected of helping Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam before and after the Paris attacks.

The Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, has claimed it was behind the attacks. Through the ISIS-affiliated Amaq agency, the group said its fighters carried out “a series of bombings with explosive belts and devices” and opened fire at the airport.

Belgium has raised the terrorism threat alert to its highest level. While searching a home as a part of an investigation Tuesday, Belgian police said they found an ISIS flag and an explosive device containing nails.

The attacks came just days after Abdeslam, a suspect in November's deadly Paris attacks, was arrested in Brussels Friday but authorities said it was too early to connect that to the Tuesday attacks.