Joseph Johns |Echo
The world is on edge again after terrorists attacked Zaventem Airport and downtown Maelbeek Metro Station in Brussels, Belgium. Two of the suspects are brothers and were also connected to the terror attacks in Paris in 2015. This attack is part of a larger wave that ISIS wants to execute throughout all of Europe.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks in Brussels, which left 34 dead and more than 200 injured. Four injured victims subsequently died in intensive care in local hospitals, bringing the death toll to 38 between the two attacks in Brussels. USA Today reported that a third bomb failed to detonate. This 35-pound bomb was abandoned after the first bomb went off at the airport.
There were a total of four known bombers in the Brussels attacks. Police shot one of the bombers, and another suspect is still at large. The United States expressed its deepest condolences to the families of those who died and vowed to aid the Dutch law enforcement in hunting down the attackers yet to be found.
These attacks resemble another attack in Lahore, Pakistan over Easter weekend. A splinter group of Al Qaeda known as Jamaat-ul-Ahrar claimed responsibility for this attack, which killed mostly women and children. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar admits to targeting Christians.
Pakistani President Nawaz Sharif decided to suspend his trip to the United States, insisting that his government would not allow terrorists to play with Pakistani lives.
This attack highlights the increased tensions between the two percent minority Christian population and the vast majority Muslim population in Pakistan. Regional leaders such as Narendra Modi, the president of India, condemned the terrorists for their cowardly acts. India, a close neighbor to Pakistan, has a 10 percent Muslim population compared to Pakistan's 11 percent.
Politico noted that the United States also decried this Pakistani attack in a public statement by Ned Price, the National Security Council spokesman.
