BELGIUM HAS CHARGED two new suspects in connection with the November 2015 Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group which left 130 people dead, federal prosecutors said today.

The two – identified as Farid K and Meryem EB – are “suspected to have provided Khalid El Bakraoui with the false documents afterwards used in preparation of the Paris attacks,” a statement said.

Bakraoui blew himself up at a Brussels metro station while his brother Ibrahim and another suicide bomber attacked Brussels airport in twin attacks that killed 32 people on 22 March last year.

Some 20 people have been charged in Belgium in connection with the investigation into the Paris attacks. Investigators say the Paris and Brussels attacks were carried out by the same cell.

AP / Press Association Images A man gestures during a trial of a suspected extremist cell linked to Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the now-dead ringleader of last year's lethal attacks in Paris, at the Justice Palace in Brussels in May 2016. AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

Farid K has “been charged with participation in the activities of a terrorist group, falsification of documents and use of false documents,” the prosecutor’s office said.

Meryem EB “has been charged with falsification of documents and use of false documents,” it said.

Farid K has been placed in police custody while Meryem EB was released under “strict” conditions, it added.

Brussels has been operating under the second-highest terror alert status since the attacks last year. Last Friday, dozens of Belgian police called in sick because of anger from overwork – partly to do with the ramp up in security from anti-terrorist measures.

With reporting from Gráinne Ní Aodha. Comments have been closed as the men have been charged.

- © AFP, 2017

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