This past Tuesday, March 22, Europe was wracked once more by a terrorist attack.
In the two bombings that occurred, one in the Brussels Airport and the other in the Maelbeek Subway station, 30 people were killed and 230 more were reported to have been wounded. Since then, Brussels has been largely shut down, with many of the town’s subway stations being temporarily shut down and several flights into the Brussels Airport being suspended that day. Many of Brussels’ modes of transportation are now up and running, but shock continues to resonate through the town and all of Europe once again, and the Belgian prime minister has called for a three day period of mourning in wake of the attacks.
Several major cities around the world, such as London, Paris, and New York, have increased security in their towns and many nations have offered Belgium sentiments of support and offers of assistance.
Some short hours after the attacks occurred, the Islamic State, more popularly recognized as “ISIS”, issued a report to the Belgian government to claim responsibility for the attacks as Belgium was considered to be “participating in a coalition against the Islamic State.” Some sources as well have reported finding fragments of the Islamic State’s flag at the scenes of both explosions.
The primary suspect of the three men involved in the bombings has been identified by photos taken at the Brussels Airport as being Salah Abdelsalam, the sole survivor of the 10 men who conducted the Paris bombings of a few months earlier. Abdelsalam is currently under police custody.
Aside from reigniting tensions and fear throughout Europe, the attacks are also already being projected as being further obstacles for the admission of Syrian refugees into European states out of fear of more attacks occurring.
The vast majority of the refugees themselves are attempting to escape the effects of the Islamic State’s rise to power in Syria as well.