Belgium arrests three Paris attacks suspects in new raid

Belgian police officers stand guard in a street in Etterbeek, Belgium on April 9, 2016. PHOTO: AFP

BRUSSELS (AFP) - Belgian police arrested three people in a Brussels suburb on Tuesday (April 12) during a new raid linked to the investigation into the November Paris attacks, federal prosecutors said.

"Three people were arrested and held for questioning," a statement said, adding the raid took place in the Belgian capital's southern suburb of Uccle.

It said the raid was carried out "in the context of the investigation that the federal prosecutor opened following the attacks in Paris on November 13" which left 130 people dead and hundreds wounded.

The investigating judge will decide Wednesday whether to continuing holding the three, it said, without giving any further details.

The prosecutor's office announced earlier that Belgium had charged two new suspects over the March 22 Brussels airport and metro bombings that left 32 people dead and hundreds wounded.

Investigators have uncovered extensive links between the Paris and Brussels attacks, with many of the same people involved and linked to Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group which claimed both.

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