The Brussels terrorists were preparing an attack on a nuclear power plant and had recorded 12 hours of reconnaissance footage, it has been reported.
The ISIS cell
were spying on Belgium's nuclear power chief, possibly as part of a
kidnap plan to force him to let them into an atomic facility, according
to newspaper Derniere Heure.
Hours
of film of the home of the Research and Development Director of the
Belgian Nuclear Programme were discovered in an apartment in Brussels
raided by anti-terrorist police following the attack in Paris.
The terror cell responsible for the
Paris and Brussels attacks was planning to attack an unidentified
nuclear power station, it has been reported. Pictured is the power plant
in Doel, Belgium
Belgian bomber Ibrahim El Bakraoui
(centre) and explosives expert Najim Laachraou (left) killed 14 at
Brussels airport. Their accomplice - the 'Man in White' (right) fled the
airport and remains on the run
The
footage confounded investigators at first - as it showed the entrance
to the director’s home in Flanders, an area outside the capital.
But
detectives made the chilling deduction that the group was attempting to
gain entry to an atomic facility after watching all 12 hours of
footage, which included images of a local bus.
Armed
troops were sent to defend French and Belgian nuclear facilities
following the discovery and both countries nuclear programmes were put
on the highest state of alert.
Reports
of the plan first emerged as early as February and was at that time
linked back to the cell responsible for the Paris attacks.
The
footage was discovered 'as part of seizures made following the Paris
attacks,' a Belgian prosecutor said, refusing to divulge the
individual's identity 'for obvious security reasons'.
At
the time, Belgium's federal agency for nuclear control stressed the
importance of not revealing the name of the person involved so as 'not
to endanger the enquiry or nuclear security' or indeed the person
involved and their family.
The
images were captured by a camera hidden in nearby bushes and recovered
by two suspects who left the area in a vehicle with the lights off,
Derniere Heure reported.
Brussels bombers: Khalid El Bakraoui
(left), Ibrahim El Bakraoui (centre) and explosives expert Najim
Laachraoui (right) detonated bombs at the airport and metro on Tuesday,
killing 31 people
However,
reports in February did not publicly name Ibrahim and Khalid El
Bakraoui - the brothers we now know are responsible for the Brussels
bombings - as the creators of the footage.
The claims give further credence to the links now established, at least publicly, between the Paris and Brussels bombings.
The
bombings in the Belgian capital on Tuesday which killed 31 people are
now believed to have been carried out because the authorities were
closing in on the fugitive members of the terror cell.
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