Brussels: Brussels is known as a haven for the Islamist terrorists in Europe. Being one of the freest countries in the World, Belgium has encouraged migration from across the world over the years. Lakhs of migrants from Africa and Middle East live in Belgium.
Molenbeek-Saint-Jean is a densely populated district where unemployment is high and disengagement rife. Within its melting pot of cultures there's a large Muslim community.
According to a BBC report, the recent Paris attacks have thrust Molenbeek into the international spotlight. Belgian authorities carried out a series of raids searching for key suspects believed to have lived in the area. Two people arrested have been charged with terrorist offences. It's led to
Molenbeek being widely labelled as a jihadi haven, but for some residents that's an unfair description. But Molenbeek has a history of connections with cases of extremism. It was searched as part of anti-terror operations that were carried out in Belgium in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks.
A suspect in a thwarted attack on a high-speed train from Belgium to France was reported to have stayed at his sister's house in Molenbeek, and a Frenchman accused of shooting dead four people last year at the Jewish Museum in Brussels also spent time in the area, according to Reuters news agency.
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