Suspected Belgian - Algerian terrorist shot dead on the A8 Motorway in Belgium.

Suspected Belgian - Algerian terrorist shot dead on the A8 Motorway in Belgium.(BE). A 39-year-old terrorist suspect from Algeria succumbed during a shooting after a police intervention in the area of Ath, in Hainaut Province in Wallonia. During a house search conducted at the home of the man, police discovered weapons and ammunition.

Police wanted to arrest the man but this attempt ended up in a shooting in which the terrorist suspect was killed. The incident happened yesterday afternoon on the A8 Motorway linking Doornik (Tournai) to Brussels. The road was closed for all traffic, which led to serious traffic congestion.

The man was suspected of being a member of a terrorist organisation. Police next searched his house in Anderlecht and discovered explosives, weapons and ammunition, together with bullet-proof vests and night glasses.

The French judicial authorities had informed their Belgian colleagues about his possible terrorist links last year. However, the man was a suspect in Belgium as well, as he was linked to a violent armed robbery in the Restaurant "De Pajot" in Anderlecht on 21 March.Hmmmm......The name Abdelkader Merah brother of Mohammed merah the Toulouse shooter comes to mind. Read the full story here.

Related? How did Mohammed Merah become a jihadist? A senior Belgian counter terrorism official has told CNN that Abdelkader Merah first came to their notice during a joint investigation in 2008 with French police into a Brussels, Belgium-based jihadist recruitment network. The network was sending Belgian and French militants to Cairo en route to join militants in Iraq -- and may also have connected Europeans to jihadist groups in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region.

Update : HT: The Jawa Report.

The name of the 'terrorist' is  Hakim Benladghem, Slideshow of weapons seized.

Mohamed Merah had officially no longer a valid French passport since April 2008.

Mohamed Merah had officially no longer a valid French passport since April 2008.(Liberte).Apparantly Mohamed Merah, the alleged assassin of the Jewish school in Toulouse and three soldiers,is a French national but also Algerian. This was stated by those close to the case and at liberty to disclose the matter. The day he died, on 22 March, Mohamed Merah had no valid French passport. It had expired nearly four years before.The same sources state that a single French passport was issued to Mohamed Merah. Born October 10, 1988 in Toulouse, there was only one application at the town hall. His French passport was issued April 22, 1998 (he was then 09 years, 5 months and 12 days) in Toulouse and it was never renewed. The French document is valid for 10 years, Mohamed Merah could no longer travel abroad with his French passport since April 22, 2008.
But his Algerian passport was still valid. On 20 July 2005 he obtained the official document at the Algerian Consulate in Toulouse. It was renewed March 20, 2010, always in the same consulate.Thus, since April 22, 2008, Mohamed Merah was only able to travel (legally) outside of France with an Algerian passport "The Israeli authorities, through the Shin Bet (internal security) confirmed that Mohamed Merah visited the Jewish state in 2010, for 3 days. He arrived in Israel from Jordan, crossing the Allenby Bridge, which forms the border between the two nations. Was he using an "Algerian Passport"?
He took a long, long, journey. This led him to Afghanistan, in late 2010 and then to Pakistan, the following year. In an interview with Le Monde, Bernard Squarcini, head of the Central Directorate of Internal Intelligence (DCRI), describes this journey that would have occurred off the marked trails of international jihadism. He received contacts from his older brother Abdelkader, considered a fundamentalist? Mohammed spend some time in Cairo at his brother after going to Turkey, Syria, Lybia, Jordania and Israel.The "tourist" was even briefly arrested, in Jerusalem, Israel, carrying a knife.Questionned briefly at a police station, he was released.
Mohamed Merah's brother was investigated by the Belgian police in 2007-2008 for recruiting Jihadists.(LaMeuse).In 2007-2008, the Belgian Federal Judicial Police has taken a close interest in Merah Abdelkader, Mohamed's brother. But the evidence was not sufficient to press charges. However, Abdelkader could be the brain, the instigator of the murders committed in Toulouse by the younger brother, shot by men of the Raid. Abdelkader was not the focus of research. It would rather appear "on the edge" of a 'gang', or more specifically a recruitment network jhadiste based in Belgium. A network that was suspected of sending young Belgian and French activists to Cairo before joining the fighters in Afghanistan and Pakistan. "But the evidence was not sufficient, either in France or Belgium. This case then could not succeed in court, "says the source.Read the full story here.(GoogleTranslate).

Mohamed Merah's brother was investigated by the Belgian police in 2007-2008 for recruiting Jihadists.

Mohamed Merah's brother was investigated by the Belgian police in 2007-2008 for recruiting Jihadists.(LaMeuse).In 2007-2008, the Belgian Federal Judicial Police has taken a close interest in Merah Abdelkader, Mohamed's brother. But the evidence was not sufficient to press charges. However, Abdelkader could be the brain, the instigator of the murders committed in Toulouse by the younger brother, shot by men of the Raid. Abdelkader was not the focus of research. It would rather appear "on the edge" of a 'gang', or more specifically a recruitment network jhadiste based in Belgium. A network that was suspected of sending young Belgian and French activists to Cairo before joining the fighters in Afghanistan and Pakistan. "But the evidence was not sufficient, either in France or Belgium. This case then could not succeed in court, "says the source.Read the full story here.(GoogleTranslate).