One of the terrorists responsible for the Brussels airport bombing said during questioning that one of the goals of the attack was to hit checkout counters of flights headed to Israel, French news agencies reported on Thursday morning.
Terrorist Mohamed Abrini, who was apprehended last week after he was first seen on surveillance footage of the attack wearing a hood, told authorities that Ibrahim el-Bakraoui chose the targets of the airport attack: the waiting halls for passengers flying to the United States, where one of the terrorists exploded, a flight to Russia and flight to Tel Aviv.
With that, it seems Abrini apparently had a change of heart and fled after the two explosions in the airport. "I could not hurt a fly,” he said during investigation. "I am not radicalized with my opinions and I have never been in Syria.”
According to the report, Abrini went into hiding after seeing an arrest warrant was issued against him. French network reported that he changed his hideout location several times, wearing wigs to avoid being recognized in public.
Prosecutors have already filed charges against four people believed to have been involved in the attacks last month. A total of 32 people were killed and 270 wounded.
Several suspects in the group have already been definitively linked to the terror attacks in Paris in November which killed 130 people. The DNA of one of the Brussels bombers - Najim Laachraoui - was also found on bomb remnants from those attacks.