Brussels attacks: Bombers were ‘considering attack on nuclear site ‘

Suicide bombers who blew themselves up in Brussels were originally considering an attack on a nuclear site in Belgium, but arrests started last week may have forced them to switch to targets in the Belgian capital, the DH newspaper said.

Referring to an incident in December that prosecutors confirmed in which militants covertly filmed the home of an unidentified senior official in the nuclear industry, the paper quoted a police source as saying two of the suicide bombers, brothers Khalid and Ibrahim Bakraoui, had filmed the daily routine of the head of Belgium’s nuclear research and development programme.

The police source did not address why investigators thought they had continued to plan to go through with the mission despite the discovery of the covert video three months ago and the ramping up of security around nuclear plants as a result.