Nine years ago today, on 22 March 2016, Brussels experienced its deadliest terrorist attacks in history.
Early in the morning on 22 March 2016, suicide bombers detonated explosives at Brussels Airport in Zaventem and later at Maelbeek metro station, near the heart of the European Union institutions. The coordinated attacks claimed 32 lives and injured over 340 people, sending shockwaves through Belgium and across Europe.
Investigators revealed that the attacks were meticulously planned and executed by the same terror cell responsible for the November 2015 Paris attacks, which claimed the lives of 130 people.
Authorities identified the group as linked to the so-called Islamic State. In total, Belgium managed to capture and convict eight suspects, who are all serving jail sentences. One suspect fled to Syria, where he is believed to have died in 2017.
The criminal trial for the Brussels terror suspects began in December 2022. This was Belgium’s largest ever trial related to terrorism. The proceedings cost the Belgian State approximately €35.3 million, requiring the refurbishment of the Justitia building in Haren, specialised cubicles to detain the suspects, and high-security transfers of the terror suspects from their places of detainment to the Belgian court.
The hearings lasted until September 2023 and culminated in the conviction of eight individuals directly involved in the planning and execution of the attacks. Three perpetrators, all born in Morocco but brought up in Belgium, died during the attacks.
Belgium's biggest terror trial
Salah Abdeslam, Sofien Ayari, and Osama Krayem were among those convicted. All three had originally been serving sentences in France due to their involvement in the Paris attacks. They were temporarily transferred to Belgium specifically for this trial, under special judicial agreements.
Following their convictions, Ayari and Krayem returned to French custody at the end of 2023, while Abdeslam followed in February 2024 after multiple unsuccessful appeals against his transfer.
Abdeslam, one of the most well-known suspects and the only survivor of the 13 November 2015 Paris attacks, is currently detained at Vendin-le-Vieil Penitentiary Centre, a high-security facility in Pas-de-Calais. Convicted terrorist Krayem now faces further charges in Sweden related to his alleged role in the 2014 murder of a Jordanian pilot in Syria.
This drawing by Jonathan De Cesare shows the accused during a session regarding the judgment on the penalty at the trial of the attacks of 22 March 2016, at the Brussels-Capital Assizes Court, Friday 15 September 2023 at the Justitia site in Haren, Brussels. Credit: Belga/ Jonathan De Cesare
In Belgium, Mohamed Abrini, Bilal El Makhouki, Ali El Haddad Asufi, and Hervé Bayingana Muhirwa continue serving their sentences in various prisons. Oussama Atar, considered the mastermind behind the Brussels attacks, was never captured and is presumed dead.
Of those in Belgian custody, only Muhirwa, who received a ten-year sentence for participating in a terrorist group, is currently eligible for parole. The Belgian-Rwandan Islamic convert was accused of being part of the Islamist cell that carried out the attacks and helping to destroy evidence at an Etterbeek apartment used by the terrorists.
Muhirwa, arrested in April 2016, has now served almost nine years of his sentence. According to his lawyer, Vincent Lurquin, the parole process faced setbacks due to Muhirwa's frequent prison transfers, which delayed psychological assessments, educational programmes, and job searches crucial to his rehabilitation and eventual release. He emphasised Muhirwa's commitment to compensating victims once he is allowed to start working.
Deep wounds
Even with most suspects now behind bars and serving their sentences, which range from between ten years to life imprisonment, the attacks still ripple through the public consciousness of the Belgian capital.
Prime Minister Alexander De Croo pictured during a ceremony to commemorate the victims of terrorist attacks in Belgium and all Belgian victims of terrorist attacks abroad, Friday 22 March 2024, at the memorial in the Rue de la Loi/ Wetstraat in Brussels. Credit: Belga/ Laurie Dieffembacq
The attack put the capital on the global map, for all the wrong reasons. Certain neighbourhoods of Brussels now have a lasting affiliation with Islamic terror. Heightened security measures are also more commonplace across the capital. Until 2021, the military patrolled key areas of the city as part of the Vigilant Guardian operation. These duties have since been handed to the Belgian police.
For the victims of the attacks, the memory of the bombings persists. In 2022, a female victim opted for assisted suicide after languishing from the mental impact of the attacks, which she narrowly survived at just 17-years-old. Her mental pain was deemed incurable by doctors.
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In total, insurers have paid nearly €84 million in compensation to survivors of the bombings. 340 people were injured in the attacks, many seriously, and will require ongoing support well into the future. Belgian insurance companies expect to pay another €57 million in life insurance payments, medical care expenses, disability benefits and other payments to victims in years to come.
Non-profit associations, such as Life4brussels, still work to support the victims of this attack. It regularly offers psychological support and therapy for those physically and mentally injured by the attacks. Life4brussels also works on deradicalisation in schools and other projects to prevent a future generation of Brussels attackers.
Credit: Belga/ Thierry Roge
Today, to mark the ninth anniversary of the attacks, non-profits 'We have the choice' and 'The Constellation' will organise a solemn gathering to pay "homage to all the victims of violence and terrorism" in the Brussels municipality of Ixelles. At 14:00, 'The Big Embrace' will bring people together at the Elzenhof community centre to mourn the attacks. The event will be guided in Dutch, English and French.
Later in the day, a march for peace will take place from Place Schuman to Place du Luxembourg, ending in a music event. Another gathering will be organised at the memorial site in the Sonian Forest.
