Germany Detains 2 Men Suspected of Links to Brussels Terrorist Attacks

The law enforcement in Germany has detained two men suspected of links to the Brussels terrorist attacks, local media reported Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Two suicide blasts hit the departures hall of Brussels international airport on Tuesday and an explosion shook a subway carriage in Maelbeek station, close to the EU institutions, killing at least 31 people and injuring 300.

One of the suspects, detained in the German town of Giessen, received several suspicious messages to his cell phone in the morning before the attacks. One text message featured the name of the suicide bomber Khalid Bakraoui, who carried out the Maelbeek station attack, another message contained a French word "fin" (end), Der Spiegel newspaper reported citing sources.

The second suspect, referred to as Samir E., was detained in Dusseldorf. He was detained on Turkish-Syrian border with Bakraoui back in summer 2015. Turkish authorities deported the two, suspected of attempting to join extremists in Syria, back to Amsterdam, according to the newspaper.

Earlier on Friday, Belgian media said the seventh suspect in the Brussels attacks was detained in the Forest commune of the city. The federal prosecutor’s office previously announced that six people had been detained during search operations in the communes of Jette and Schaerbeek.