Probe finds indication US, Russian and Israeli check-in counters, Hasidic travelers were targeted
Still from CCTV footage showing Najim Laachraoui (left), Ibrahim El Bakraoui (centre), and Mohamed Abrini(right)
The Islamic State suicide bombers who attacked Brussels airport last year targeted passengers traveling to the United States and also Jewish people, several sources told AFP.
The Belgian-led investigation believes a check-in counter for an American carrier was one of the targets in the March 22, 2016 attacks, the sources said on condition of anonymity.
They also suspect that travelers to Israel may have been in the crosshairs, and that airport security camera footage shows one bomber apparently pursuing Hasidic Jews seconds before one of the blasts.
Islamic State (IS) bombers Najim Laachraoui and Ibrahim El Bakraoui killed 16 people at Zaventem airport. Around an hour later Bakraoui's brother Khalid attacked a metro station near EU headquarters, killing another 16. (...)
Sources close to the investigation added that camera footage never released to the public showed that Laachraoui had been standing among some 60 high school students before deciding to pursue two Orthodox Jews.
"The attacker seemed to rush towards two Orthodox Jews," one of the sources said. "He really, clearly wanted to kill a Jew."
A US government source said separately that Lachraoui was targeting a Hasidic Jew. Hasidic men are easily recognizable because they wear dark suits over white shirts, have long beards, hats and curly sidelocks.read more
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