Perpetrator of failed Thalys train attack known to Belgian authorities since 2012: report

The Belgian intelligence services knew about the perpetrator of a failed attack on a Thalys train between Amsterdam and Paris in 2015 three years before the attack happened, according to the annual report of the Belgian supervisory committee on the intelligence services, Het Parool reports.

The foiled attack happened on a Thalys train heading from Amsterdam to Paris on August 21st, 2015. Ayoub el-Khazzani boarded the train, heavily armed, at Brussels South station and hid in the toilet. Just after the train crossed the French border, he came out of the toilet waving his weapons. He was immediately overpowered by four other passengers and handed over tho the French police.

According to the report, the Spanish intelligence services warned their Belgian colleagues about El-Khazzani and his brother Imran in 2012. The Spanish authorities were worried about the brothers' being radicalized. But the Belgian intelligence services gave no urgency to the file, according to the supervisory committee.