Belgian police missed 13 opportunities to expose the terror cell behind the recent attacks in Paris and Brussels, according to an internal report leaked to a Belgian newspaper.
Leads police missed or decided not to investigate date back to February 2015, eight months before the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris. Six of the chances were never pursued due to a lack of resources, Belgian daily newspaper De Tijd reports.
Police were warned about Salah Abdeslam, one of two surviving suspects, on several occasions without acting. Police officers in the neighborhood of Molenbeek in Brussels informed their higher ups about Abdeslam’s radicalization and ties to Islamic State, but the information was never followed up on.
Police also ignored a Spanish request for information about Abdeslam’s brother Brahim, who blew himself up during the attacks.
The attack in Paris claimed the lives of 130 people. Salah Abdeslam remained at large for four months during the largest manhunt in European history. Abdeslam is also linked to the March 22 bombings in Brussels, which killed 32 people.
The report will be handed to a special commission at the Belgian parliament to see how the country’s counter-terrorism approach can be improved.
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