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Brussels Police Open Fire At Car During Bomb Scare In Jihadi-Linked Area

REUTERS/Yves Herman

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Jacob Bojesson Foreign Correspondent
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Brussels police opened fire at a car Tuesday in the neighborhood of Molenbeek after the driver claimed he had explosives packed in the vehicle.

Police chased the suspect after he missed a red light in a German-registered vehicle. He was detained after police fired shots at the wheels of the car to stop his progress. A large area was sealed off as a bomb unit reportedly performed two controlled explosives after the man was arrested.

“When the police arrested him, he claimed to have explosives so not to take any risk, the army has been called in to check,” Ine van Wymersch, a spokeswoman for the Brussels prosecutor, told Reuters.

Police later said reported that no explosives were discovered in the vehicle. The suspect was identified as a an Rwandan citizen who police described as “confused.”

Molenbeek rose to fame in November 2015 after a group from the area killed 130 people in a series of attacks. Close associates of the group carried out coordinated suicide bombings against a subway station and an airport in Brussels four months later.

The area has become known as a jihadi safe haven and nearly every major terror attack on the west during the 21st century has a link to Molenbeek. (RELATED: Step Inside The One District In Brussels That’s Connected To Nearly Every Major Terror Attack On The West)

A recent report claims that 102 organizations in the area are suspected of having ties to crime and another 51 are linked to terrorism.

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