Armed police shoot man 'carrying a bomb in a rucksack after he takes a woman hostage' at Brussels tram station as they swoop on terror suspects linked to 'imminent attack in France'

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A woman was taken hostage by a terror suspect in a dramatic stand-off at a tram stop in Brussels today.

Witnesses told how heavily armed anti-terror police shot the man in the leg because he was carrying a rucksack they believed contained a bomb.

As police moved in the suspect then grabbed a woman and pulled her to the ground.

In heart-stopping footage captured from a balcony above where the drama unfolded, the man can be seen letting a little girl no older than five go as officers get closer.

The clip then shows specially trained anti-terror police in bullet proof vests gently coaxing the frightened girl to safety as the target grabbed the woman.

Scroll down for videos 

A woman was taken hostage by a suspected terrorist during a dramatic stand-off at a tram stop in Brussels today, witnesses say. The man is pictured on the floor during the raid 

A bomb robot and a member of a bomb squad inspect the suspicious package at the scene moments after the dramatic stand-off

Moments after the suspect had been dragged away by armed police, a bomb disposal expert moved in to examine the contents of a rucksack

Moments later armed response shot the man in the leg and dragged him away to a waiting car. The gunfire smashed the tram stop glass to smithereens. 

The dramatic scenes come as: 

• Seven were arrested during police raids in Brussels on Thursday night;
• Among those held was convicted ISIS recruiter Reda Kriket; 
• The 34-year-old French national had been in the 'advanced stages' of planning an attack in France. He was found with heavy weapons and explosives in his apartment; 
• Two men were held in Germany suspected of being linked to the Brussels bombers;
• Claims surfaced that Paris terror suspect Salah Abdeslam was plotting a machine gun massacre over Easter before he was arrested.

Today’s shootout, in the Schaerbeek area of north Brussels, began with two explosions, which triggered panic in a city still reeling from Tuesday’s bloodbath which left 31 dead and 270 injured. 

A group of women having their hair done at Meshairs hair salon over the road from the tram stop told of the moment they saw officers get the little girl away from the man.

Sabina, a hairdresser, told MailOnline: ‘I heard all this shouting and commotion outside. I looked out the window and saw the police approach, crouched down.

‘The man saw them and grabbed the woman and the child and took them hostage. He let the child go and pulled the woman to the ground and lay on top of her.

‘Then the police shot him in the leg. He was then pulled away by police. The woman was screaming and crying.’

The suspect was ‘neutralised’ and dragged off to a waiting police car, witnesses added.

As the camera moves to include the tram stop, it shows a child crouching by the side of the shot suspect, and the man in orange calls for the boy or girl to leave the man

The man in orange manages to convince the child to leave the suspect on the ground, and police - including one carrying a shield - back away

A video of the incident showed police hiding behind a car before shooting the man, who was holding a bag which is believed to have contained explosives.

With the scene cleared, a bomb robot rolled in and lifted the rucksack, which a bomb disposal expert then inspected.

Photographs taken shortly afterwards showed smoke rising from the backpack, which may have been blown up in a controlled explosion.

Another video clearly showed a man wearing an orange jacket coaxing the child to safety before she was carried away to safety.

Today’s shooting took place in the Brussels suburb of Schaerbeek – the scene of a number of anti-terror raids in the last few days.

Najim Laachraoui, the master bomber who blew himself up at Zaventem airport on Tuesday, killing 14, and whose DNA was found on the suicide vests in Paris, lived in Schaerbeek.

DNA traces of Balal Hadfi, one of the Paris bombers, were also found in a flat in Schaerbeek along with a cache of explosives in December. 

Pictures reportedly taken at the site show armed police hiding behind a car before appearing to shoot a man at a tram stop in Schaerbeek

Two armed police officers then run over and force the man to drop the bag - before dragging him away behind a car around 30ft away

Belgian police drag a suspect along a tramway platform after he was shot following a raid in the Brussels borough of Schaerbeek

The operation was carried out in Schaerbeek - a residential area in northern Brussels where police carried out several raids on Thursday night

One witness, speaking about today's raid, told local TV station RTBF: 'I heard two explosions, they were shooting. I opened the window and saw a man lying near the tram stop.

Another told La Libre newspaper: 'The police ordered him to show his hands, remove his jacket. They said that if he did not comply, they would use their weapons.'

The Mayor of Schaerbeek, Bernard Clerfayt, later confirmed that 'a person was intercepted by police and suffered a slight leg injury'. He added there had been several small explosions linked to bomb disposal work.

Sources at the scene told MailOnline a man inside the flat carrying explosives may have been about to launch a suicide attack.

It is thought two unmarked cars pulled up outside a house, after which two explosions were heard - one of which is understood to blown open the door. There is speculation that one of the explosions may have been a stun grenade.

Explosion: Smoke rises after a bomb squad unit robot grabbed the shot suspect's rucksack at the tram station

A police officer can be seen standing by the tram stop while a train appears to be stopped just a few metres away as the bomb robot lifts the bag

Police use a robotic device as they take part in a search in the Brussels borough of Schaerbeek following Tuesday's bombings in Brussels

A Belgian bomb disposal expert in heavy protection gear examines a suspicious object at the scene of an apparent operation against terror suspects near the Meizer roundabout in Schaerbeek

A member of the bomb disposal squad approached the rucksack carefully - picking a white object up on the way (left) - before sitting next to it to check it thoroughly (right) 

Witness Salah Eddine, 42, a hotel receptionist, told MailOnline: 'There was an explosion, a bomb, in the square over there, close to the offices of RTBF, the national broadcaster.

'I lived just around the corner. I am married, we have a daughter. This is terrifying. It's terrible, too much.'

Another, Manon, a 22-year-old university student described how she heard a bang and saw a man lying on the ground, adding: 'I was standing on the balcony at home by the square.

'I heard a shot, like a bang and I looked down and I saw a man lying on the ground. I went back into the flat and I heard the sound of breaking glass.

'There were people running away. Then I heard the sirens and police started arriving. Later I saw a man with a mask and a gun. I think he was a policeman.'

It comes as French President Francois Hollande said this afternoon the Islamist militant network behind attacks in Paris and Brussels was being destroyed, but there remained other cells that continue to pose a threat.

'We know that there are other networks. Even if the one behind the attacks in Paris and Brussels is in the process of being wiped out, a threat continues to remain,' Hollande said ahead of a meeting with former Israeli President Shimon Peres.

Meanwhile, there have been separate reports today of another raid in a Belgian town 60 miles south of Brussels.

Aftermath: Broken glass is left on the ground after it was reported armed police opened fire on a terror suspect during a dramatic stand-off

A tram stopped just feet away from the scene and had to be evacuated during the fresh anti-terrorist operation, which was connected to a foiled terror plot in France

Three men of foreign origin were arrested at an 80-bedroom hotel in Dinant and police are searching the evacuated building for explosives.

The town's mayor Richard Fournaux said it was too early to say whether the operation was linked to the bombings earlier this week.

Two suspect packages have been found – one in a car near the building, which was hosting a business conference, and one in a hotel room.

Bomb disposal experts are examining both packages. 

Convicted ISIS recruiter who 'planned imminent terrorist attack in France' is among seven arrested as police use grenades in raids in Belgium and Paris

Today's dramatic raid comes after seven people were arrested in Belgium and Paris overnight by masked anti-terror police across Europe in connection with the Brussels massacres and a new terror plot.

Armed police swooped on properties in the Schaerbeek and Jette districts of Brussels and arrested a total of six people, who are thought to be connected to Tuesday's airport and Metro bombings.

German police have also arrested two more people with suspected links to the attackers while a new suspect in the Brussels plot, 28-year-old Syrian Naim al-Hamed, has also been identified.

It comes as it was revealed that the Frenchman arrested in the northern Paris suburb of Argenteuil last night was a convicted ISIS recruiter who was in the 'advanced stages' of planning an attack in France.

Today's raid in Brussels was linked to the arrest of 'ISIS recruiter' Reda Kriket, 34, in a Paris suburb Thursday

Listed: Both Khalid (left) and Ibrahim (right) El Bakraoui and the mysterious 'Man in White' were reportedly on U.S. terror-watch lists and identified by American intelligence

Reda Kriket, 34, was reportedly jailed in his absence in Belgium last year in connection with a network sending jihadists to Syria. He was placed on a Most Wanted police list in January, and was considered 'extremely dangerous'.

It comes as Belgian police admitted a catastrophic police blunder allowed Paris bombings logistics chief Salah Abdeslam to remain at large for more than three months. 

A dedicated beat officer gave information about the whereabouts of Abdeslam to superiors on December 7 and urged them to pass it on to the country's anti-terrorist police. But the confidential report was inexplicably not passed onto the federal bureau.

It has also been claimed Abdeslam was planning a multiple shooting and suicide bomb attack in Brussels over Easter before he was arrested last week.

It is understood more than 50 residents, including many children, were among those evacuated in Thursday night's raids.

One resident told Le Parisien: 'We saw many [police] arrive around 5.30pm. The police told us to stay at home without giving more explanation.

'Agents are hooded. Given the context, people are afraid. My son once told me he did not want to go to school tomorrow.'

In Germany, it emerged that police had arrested two people they suspect are linked to the Islamist suicide bombers.

It said one of the men, arrested on Wednesday near Frankfurt, received two mobile phone messages shortly before the bombings that included the name of Khalid El Bakraoui, the man Belgian police say blew himself in a Brussels metro station.

The German interior ministry declined immediate comment on Spiegel's report.

US Secretary of State John Kerry (pictured) has arrived in Brussels to offer Washington's support to Belgium

Belgium's Prime Minister Charles Michel, right, and Foreign Minister Didier Reynders, centre, welcome U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left on his arrival at the Prime Minister's residence in Brussels

BRITISH MAN MISSING SINCE DEADLY BRUSSELS METRO BLAST IS CONFIRMED DEAD

The Foreign Office has confirmed that Briton David Dixon (pictured) died in the terror attacks

A Briton who has been missing since the deadly terror attacks in Brussels has been confirmed dead.

The family of David Dixon, 53, who is originally from Hartlepool but was living in the Belgian capital, said they had received 'the most terrible and devastating news'.

A statement issued on behalf of Mr Dixon's family added: 'At this most painful time our family would gratefully appreciate it if we could be left alone to grieve in private.'

Mr Dixon had been missing since the Metro blast, and his family previously said they were 'anxiously waiting' and hoping for 'good news' about him. 

Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted: 'I am deeply saddened to hear David Dixon was killed in the Brussels attacks. My thoughts and prayers are with his friends and family.' 

A statement from the Foreign Office added: 'Our thoughts are with [Mr Dixon's] family at this difficult time and our Embassy staff are continuing to support them.'

Seven British nationals were injured in the attacks, with three still being treated in hospital, officials confirmed.

The news came as the Italian foreign ministry confirmed Patricia Rizzo had also died in the subway bomb blast along with a German citizen of Italian origin, Jennifer Scintu Waetzmann. 

Der Spiegel said the messages included the word 'fin,' French for 'end', and were received three minutes before the explosion at Brussels' Maelbeek metro station, near the European Union headquarters. 

Germany's federal police chief said ISIS appeared eager to carry out 'spectacular' attacks as it was coming under increased military pressure in Iraq and Syria.

This means the risk of Brussels-style attacks in Germany and elsewhere in Europe is high, Holger Muench, president of the BKA federal police, told Bild newspaper in remarks to be published on Saturday. 'More attacks cannot be ruled out,' he said.

In Belgium, investigators have identified a new suspect they believe played a role in the Brussels bombings, according to the newspaper De Morgen.

The paper, named him as 28-year-old Syrian Naim al-Hamed and said he was on a list circulated to the security services of other European countries after Tuesday's attacks along with Mohamed Abrini, Najim Laachraoui and Khalid El Bakraoui.

The paper said Naim al-Hamed was also suspected of involvement in the November 13 attacks in Paris which killed 130 people.

Meanwhile, it has emerged this morning that police have also arrested a man seen on security footage next to Khalid El Bakraoui, the suicide attacker who detonated a bomb in the Brussels metro, De Standaard newspaper reported on Friday.

The federal prosecutor's office did not confirm the arrest.

The newspaper said the man, whom it did not name, was arrested after a policeman recognised him from the security footage.

Khalid El Bakraoui, 27, who blew himself up on a crowded rush hour train, is the brother of Brahim El Bakraoui, who detonated a bomb at Brussels Airport an hour earlier.

The joint attacks killed at least 31 people and wounded 316.

Public broadcaster RTBF meanwhile reported police detained a seventh person in the district of Forest following six arrests late on Thursday.

France has been on high alert since the November 13 attacks in Paris that killed 130 people and injured hundreds more. Mr Cazenueve said there had been 75 arrests since the beginning of the year and 28 suspects had been jailed.

The latest arrests comes just days after suicide bombers hit Brussels airport and a metro train, killing at least 31 people and wounding some 270 in the worst such attack in Belgian history.

At least two men identified by police from surveillance footage at the airport and metro station where the attacks took place are still at large.

But police arrested a further six people in connection with the attacks last night, with three people being detained 'outside the door of the federal prosecutor's office' in Brussels city centre. 

Federal prosecutor spokesman Eric Van der Sypt said two further people were arrested elsewhere in the city and the sixth was detained in Jette, on the outskirts of the capital.

'It will be decided (on Friday) if arrest warrants are brought against these people,' he added.

Raids also took place in the Brussels district of Schaerbeek last night. The suburb is where the three airport attackers left from on Tuesday morning carrying three explosive-packed suitcases.

Schaerbeek residents described hearing detonations during the police raids, but it was unclear whether they were explosions or controlled blasts.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry has arrived in Brussels to offer Washington's support to Belgium.

Kerry came to Brussels from Moscow where he had held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on pushing forward a ceasefire in Syria where ISIS has seized huge swathes of territory and where many of its European jihadist recruits have been trained and become battle-hardened.

His visit came as a US official said two Americans were killed in Tuesday's bombing in Brussels.

The official did not offer specifics on where the Americans died, saying only that two had been confirmed killed.

Ibrahim detonated a bomb at the airport terminal where it is believed he and his brother worked as cleaners. Khalid blew up a nail bomb on a Metro train at Maelbeek station shortly after the airport attack

Kerry is due to meet Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, as well as the country's King Philippe, as the country tries to come to terms with the attacks amid accusations that authorities could have done more or even prevented them but for intelligence failures.

In his first engagement, Kerry met European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker after EU member states pledged they would step up security cooperation so as to better fight IS jihadists.

After meeting with the Belgian prime minister Mr Kerry said the 'United States is praying and grieving with you for the loved ones of those cruelly taken from us, including Americans, and for the many who were injured in these despicable attacks.

'The United States stands firmly with Belgium and with the nations of Europe in the face of this tragedy,' Mr Kerry said, adding that the world will not relent in its fight against the Islamic State group, which has claimed the attacks.

'We - all of us representing countless nationalities - have a message for those who inspired or carried out the attacks here or in Paris, or Ankara, or Tunis, or San Bernardino, or elsewhere: We will not be intimidated,' he said.

'We will not be deterred. We will come back with greater resolve - with greater strength - and we will not rest until we have eliminated your nihilistic beliefs and cowardice from the face of the Earth.'

Mr Michel thanked Mr Kerry for his visit, calling it a powerful message of solidarity. 'It is very important for us today to receive your support,' he said. He offered condolences for the American victims and vowed to step up counter-terrorism cooperation with the US and others.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands' foreign minister said three Dutch citizens were killed in the bombing at Brussels airport.

Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said the victims were a woman from the eastern city of Deventer and a brother and sister from the southern Limburg province who live in the US. 

Belgian police questioned prime terror suspect Salah Abdeslam for just one hour within four days because he was 'too tired' to be quizzed, it is claimed

Catastrophic police blunder allowed Paris suspect Salah Abdeslam to remain at large for months 

A catastrophic police blunder allowed Paris bombings logistics chief Salah Abdeslam to remain at large for more than three months, Belgian police have admitted.

A dedicated beat officer gave information about the whereabouts of Abdeslam to superiors on December 7 and urged them to pass it on to the country’s anti-terrorist police.

But the confidential report – which cited the address 79 rue des Quatre Vents, Molenbeek, where Abdeslam was finally apprehended – was inexplicably not passed onto the federal bureau.

Abdeslam's RIR ‘Informative Report’ remained on the shelves at the Malines Police headquarters instead while he was Europe’s most wanted man as the most high-profile fugitive of the Paris terror attacks that killed 130.

The news comes as it was revealed the sole reason he gave up his suicide mission at the Stade de France in November was that he did not have a ticket. 

He made this confession to Belgium police after being arrested in Brussels a week ago. Since then, he has 'invoked his right to silence' and has not spoken to investigators since a few brief interviews on the day after his arrest, the federal prosecutor said today.   

Last night it emerged that Belgian police questioned Abdeslam for just one hour between his arrest on Friday and the devastating Brussels attacks four days later because he was 'tired', raising fears that they missed the chance to stop the atrocities.

In the latest in a long list of bungles, the hour-long interrogation at a Bruges prison on Saturday produced no intelligence about the impending carnage because investigators took a chronological approach, asking first about the Paris attacks in November. 

A statement released by the country's prosecutor today added that it was because Abdeslam was wounded in the leg and needed hospital treatment that investigators waited until the following day to question him.

A first round of questioning, which began at 8am local time on the Saturday and lasted two hours, went over the details of the November 13 Paris attacks.

A second round took place later the same day with the examining magistrate detailing the grounds of his arrest for about an hour.

The hearing then turned to the European Arrest Warrant issued by the French authorities seeking his extradition to France 'but during this last session, Abdeslam invoked his right to silence and has made no further comment', the prosecutor said.

The prosecutor said investigators saw Abdeslam again on Tuesday, immediately after the bomb attacks on Brussels airport and the metro. On this occasion, Abdeslam 'refused to make the slightest declaration', the prosecutor said.

An official told Politico: 'He seemed tired and he had been operated on the day before.' A source added: 'They were not thinking about the possibilities of what happened on Tuesday morning.' 

Police are also thought to have showed Abdeslam photographs of Tuesday's suicide bombers and failed to challenge his claim not to know them, French media claimed on Friday.

His silence comes as police discovered bomb making materials and Abdeslam's fingerprints at a Schaerbeek safe house as they gathered evidence suggesting the terror cell was active and ready to strike.

It has since been claimed he was also planning a multiple shooting and suicide bomb attack in Brussels over Easter similar to those in Paris.

Stadium: Abdeslam said the sole reason he gave up his suicide mission at the Stade de France (pictured on November 13) is that he did not have a ticket

Salah Abdeslam (pictured being captured last Friday) has been 'treated with kid gloves by police', raising concerns that authorities missed the opportunity to prevent the Brussels attacks that followed just days later

Abdeslam's lawyer, Sven Mary, confirmed how Europe's most dangerous terrorist had been treated with 'kid gloves' by police, raising concerns that authorities missed the opportunity to prevent the Brussels atrocities that followed just days later.

It comes amid speculation in the Belgian media that Abdeslam was the mastermind behind the terror plots in Brussels, which killed 31 innocent people and injured hundreds more. 

Citing no source, VRT said investigators believed Abdeslam and two others, one of them a man arrested with him on Friday, planned to use assault rifles and riot guns to cause mass casualties in Brussels while others would blow themselves up. 'The terrorists were planning the same scenario as in Paris, only it partially failed,' VRT said.

It is thought the attacks at Brussels airport and on the city's Metro system were brought forward in light of Abdeslam's capture - with jihadists fearing he may betray them following his arrest on Friday.

His dramatic detainment in Molenbeek signalled the net could be closing on those he had plotted with, and his fellow terror suspects may have feared he could provide clues as to their identities and their plans to unleash terror on the streets. 

WERE BRUSSELS JIHADIS TRYING TO MAKE A RADIOACTIVE BOMB? JIHADI BROTHERS HAD FILMED NUCLEAR CHIEF

The Brussels terrorists may have been plotting to make a radioactive bomb after it emerged 11 nuclear power plant workers have had their site access revoked amid fears of 'insider help'.

Jihadi brothers Khalid and Ibrahim el-Bakraoui had secretly filmed the daily routine of Belgium's nuclear programme chief, before they blew themselves up at Brussels airport and on a Metro train.

It is thought the brothers' spying operation was possible preparation for a kidnap plot to force him to let them into one of Belgium's two atomic facilities. However, it is likely they switched targets to the less well-guarded airport and Maelbeek Metro station after authorities became suspicious.

It emerged last night that 11 workers at the Tihange nuclear power plant, 40 miles south-east of Brussels, have had their access badges withdrawn – leading to speculation the bombers may have been seeking insider help.

The terror cell responsible for the Paris and Brussels attacks was planning to attack an unidentified nuclear power station or try and steal materials from it for a 'dirty bomb'. Pictured is the power plant in Doel, Belgium

Seven of the passes were withdrawn last week, and last Friday additional soldiers were deployed to protect the plant, which has three reactors.

If the terrorists had struck there, it could have caused a catastrophe. The plant lies in a heavily populated area about 50 miles from each of Belgium's borders with Germany, France, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. One Belgian plant is only 90 miles from Kent.

Alternatively, the brothers could have been plotting to steal nuclear material to make a dirty bomb.

Claude Moniquet, who investigates threats to Europe's nuclear sector, told NBC News: 'The terrorist cell naively believed they could use him to penetrate a lab to obtain nuclear material to make a dirty bomb.'

The heightened security at the facility, and the police raids on ISIS boltholes last week which led to the capture of Paris terrorist Salah Abdeslam, may have prompted the bombers to switch their targets to Brussels airport and Metro station, where they killed 31 people and injured 270 others on Tuesday.

Belgium's La Derniere Heure newspaper quoted a police source as saying the el-Bakraoui brothers had hidden cameras in bushes outside the home of the head of the country's nuclear research and development programme.

A Belgian prosecutor refused to divulge the individual's identity 'for obvious security reasons'.

Tihange nuclear power plant is about an hour's drive away from the Belgian capital where the attacks occurred

Belgium's federal agency for nuclear control stressed the importance of not revealing the name of the person involved so as 'not to endanger the enquiry or nuclear security' or indeed the person involved and their family.

The footage was found in December during a police raid in Brussels linked to the Paris attacks a month earlier. The filming confounded investigators at first because it showed the entrance to the director's home in Flanders, an area outside the capital.

But after watching all 12 hours' worth of footage, detectives drew the chilling conclusion that the fanatics were trying to gain access to an atomic facility.

Armed troops were sent to defend French and Belgian nuclear facilities following the discovery and both countries' nuclear programmes were put on the highest state of alert. 

The key figure in the alleged 'dirty bomb' plot is Mohammed Bakkali, 28, from Brussels, who was arrested on suspicion of helping to plan the Paris massacre in November.

The video footage of the nuclear power plant director is believed to have been found during a raid at his flat. He is due to appear in court at the end of the month.