Authorities identify the strongest tie yet between Paris and Brussels terrorist attacks

Belgian police conduct raids in Brussels
(Image credit: NICOLAS MAETERLINCK/AFP/Getty Images)

Najim Laachraoui, one of the two men who blew themselves up at the Brussels airport on Tuesday, also made the suicide vests for the November Paris attacks, Belgian authorities said Friday.

Laachraoui, 24, was a Belgian citizen who went to Syria in February 2013. On Dec. 10, 2015, authorities found bomb-making equipment and fingerprints in a Brussels apartment. The fingerprints belonged to Laachraoui and Salah Abdeslam, the only known living participant of the Paris attacks. On March 18, 2016, Abdeslam was arrested in Brussels after a four-month manhunt. On March 21, Belgian authorities reportedly asked for help in finding Laachraoui, who was still at large. The next day, Laachraoui blew himself up at the Brussels airport. Laachraoui, authorities say, is a crucial link between the Paris and Brussels attacks.

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Lauren Hansen

Lauren Hansen produces The Week’s podcasts and videos and edits the photo blog, Captured. She also manages the production of the magazine's iPad app. A graduate of Kenyon College and Northwestern University, she previously worked at the BBC and Frontline. She knows a thing or two about pretty pictures and cute puppies, both of which she tweets about @mylaurenhansen.