調查發現法比恐襲有聯繫 Police link Brussels bombers to November assault on Paris

Two brothers with suspected links to the plotters of the November terrorist attacks in Paris were identified by Belgian prosecutors yesterday as the suicide bombers in Tuesday’s double strike on Brussels’ airport and metro system.

比利時檢方昨日認定，涉嫌與去年11月巴黎恐襲策劃者有聯繫的兩兄弟是週四布魯塞爾機場和地鐵爆炸案的自殺式炸彈襲擊者。

The revelations added to mounting evidence connecting the cells behind the Paris attack and those in Brussels. They underscored investigators’ belief that they are battling the most sophisticated and extensive Isis cell encountered in Europe.

這一發現意味着越來越多的證據將巴黎與布魯塞爾恐襲案背後的恐怖小組聯繫在一起。這些證據使調查人員相信，他們正與歐洲遭遇的最狡猾且觸角甚廣的“伊拉克和黎凡特伊斯蘭國”(ISIS)小組較量。

On a visit to Brussels, Manuel Valls, France’s prime minister, said seven people out of 30 known to be linked to the Paris attacks were still being hunted.

正在布魯塞爾訪問的法國總理曼努埃爾•瓦爾斯(Manuel Valls)稱，目前已知與巴黎襲擊案相關的30名嫌疑犯中，有7人仍然在逃。

Federal prosecutors identified Ibrahim El Bakraoui as one of two men who blew themselves up in the departure hall of Zaventem airport while his brother, Khalid, died after detonating a device on a metro carriage in the city’s EU quarter, killing 31 people in total.

聯邦檢察官認定，Ibrahim El Bakraoui是在扎芬特姆機場(Zaventem)出發大廳進行自殺式爆炸的兩名男子之一，而他的兄弟Khalid在歐盟辦公樓集中的布魯塞爾市中心的一個地鐵站的地鐵車廂內引爆炸彈後身亡。兩起爆炸案共造成31人遇難。

The second airport suicide bomber was identified by his DNA as Najim Laachraoui, who was already implicated in last year’s Paris attacks, police told Belgian media. Belgian investigators are still trying to identify a third man seen in CCTV footage at the airport wearing a white jacket and a hat, pushing a luggage trolley.

警方告訴比利時媒體稱，通過DNA鑑定，機場第二個自殺式炸彈襲擊者是早已被認定爲去年巴黎恐襲嫌疑人之一的Najim Laachraoui。比利時調查人員目前仍然正在嘗試識別機場閉路電視拍下的身着白色外套、頭戴一頂帽子、推着行李車的第三個人。

Both Bakraoui brothers were known to the police, raising new questions about how much the Belgian authorities were aware of the cell’s operation before the bombings. Ibrahim was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2010 after shooting at police officers after he attempted to rob a Western Union currency exchange office. Khalid was handed a five-year suspended sentence for attempted carjackings in 2011.

此前Bakraoui兩兄弟早已進入警方的視線，這引發了新問題：在爆炸發生前，比利時政府對這個恐怖小組的活動了解多少？2010年，Ibrahim因爲在試圖搶劫西聯匯款(Western Union)的一家貨幣兌換店時槍擊警察而被判有期徒刑9年。Khalid因2011年試圖劫車而被判5年緩刑。

Only a lucky break stopped the attack being much worse on Tuesday: the suitcase bomb carried by the suspect who later fled the airport — which contained the largest amount of explosives — failed to detonate at the right moment, according to Belgian prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw. It went off after the departure hall had been cleared.

比利時檢察官弗雷德裏克•範萊烏(Frederic Van Leeuw)表示，運氣使得週二的爆炸沒有更糟糕：後來逃離機場的嫌疑人所攜帶的行李箱炸彈——裏面裝着數量最多的爆炸物——未能在正確時刻引爆，而是在機場出發大廳的乘客被疏散之後才爆炸。

Belgian authorities were also helped by a taxi driver who unwittingly drove the attackers to the airport.

比利時當局還得到了一名在不知情的情況下把肇事者載到機場的出租車司機的幫助。

After recognising them in footage from the attacks, the driver later took police to the building where he had picked them up in the capital’s Schaerbeek neighbourhood. Among material seized there was 15kg of TATP, a highly unstable explosive, as well as detonators, nails and screws.

從攻擊視頻中認出他們之後，這位司機後來把警察帶到了布魯塞爾斯哈爾貝克區接他們上車的那棟大樓。警方查獲的材料包括15千克極不穩定的炸藥三聚過氧丙酮(TATP)，以及雷管、釘子和螺釘。