BRUSSELS, EUROPE’S JIHADIST BREEDING GROUND, NOW ITSELF A TARGET:

Brussels has become infamous as a hotbed of Islamic extremism because of links to a series of recent attacks in Europe, and now the Belgian capital itself has suffered the worst ever terror attack in its history. ISIS attacks on the Brussels airport and metro system in which terrorists murdered around 34 people came just days after Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in November's 2015, ISIS Paris attacks, was captured in the city after four months on the run. A large and often poorly integrated Muslim population with high levels of unemployment and crime - especially in the gritty district of Molenbeek where Abdeslam was found near his family home - has created a breeding ground for extremism. Analysts say that has metastasized into a dedicated terror network in Belgium as many hardened jihadists return from fighting in Syria with ISIS and other extremist groups. "It is very likely that this attack will have been planned and prepared well in advance of last week's arrest of Salah Abdeslam, one of the central figures in the Paris attacks from last November," said Shiraz Maher, Senior Fellow at International Center for the Study of Radicalization, King's College London. "It therefore points to the existence of a broad and sophisticated terrorist network in Belgium. Our research shows that, per capita, Belgium has the highest number of foreign fighters in Syria of any European country.” (Arutz-7)