Islamic State have taken credit for the two terror attacks that rocked the Belgian capital yesterday leaving 34 people dead and scores badly injured.
The terrorist group thanked Allah for the attack’s success at casting “fear and terror in the hearts of the crusaders, right in their own land.”
The statement, released in Arabic and French, describes how “soldiers of the Caliphate” used suicide belts and bombs to attack locations chosen with precision around Brussels in order to kill a “large number of crusaders.”
“We promise the nations of crusaders that are allied against the Islamic State that dark days lie ahead, in response to their aggression against our State,” the statement says
“And what awaits you will be harder and more bitter, with Allah’s permission.”
In the last few hours officials have released an image of who they believe to be the three suspects.
The image shows three unidentified men pushing trollies with suitcases past Zaventem airport’s check-in area, two of whom are wearing a black glove on their left hand.
The grainy pictures have been released by Belgian police as part of their investigation, according to the Belgian news agency Belga.
Two of the men have dark hair, and one of them is wearing a red hat.
At least 34 people have been confirmed dead and more than 80 injured, following explosions at Belgium’s Zaventem airport yesterday as well as a separate explosion at Maalbeek metro station near the EU buildings in the heart of Brussels.
Belgium’s federal prosecutor has confirmed that the airport blast was carried out by a suicide bomber.
The attacks follow November’s terrorist in Paris that killed 130 people, which Islamic State also claimed responsibilty for.
“We are at war. We have been subjected for the last few months in Europe to acts of war,” said France’s Prime Minister Manuel Valls.