American Teen,19 Year Old Mason Wells Survives Attack in Brussels … His Third Brush With Terrorism

TALK ABOUT HAVING 9 LIVES, OR AT LEAST THREE …

19 year old Mason Wells is either lucky or a lightening rod for trouble. The teenager has actually survived three brushes with terrorism.

An American injured in the Brussels terror attacks has already been impacted previous terror attacks in Boston and Paris, his family said.

Mason Wells, 19, was injured in the bombing at the Brussels airport along with two other American Mormon missionaries who had gone to help check in other missionaries who were traveling to the U.S.

Wells suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon, shrapnel injures, as well as second- and third-degree burns on his face and hands after the bombing, his father Chad Wells told ABC News.

The teen missionary had previously been impacted by other terror attacks in Paris and Boston.

“This is his third terrorist attack,” Chad Wells said, noting he was with his son just a block from the Boston Marathon bombing.

“This is the third time that sadly in our society that we have a connection to a bomb blast,” Wells told ABC News. “We live in a dangerous world and not everyone is kind and loving.”

Terror Attack in Brussels, Belgium … Bomb Explosions at the Zaventem Airport and Maalbeck Metro, At Least 28 People Dead (VIDEO)

BREAKING NEWS … Two bomb blasts tore through the departures area of Zaventem airport shortly after 08:00 local time (07:00 GMT).

Terrorist bomb explosions have taken place at the Zaventem Airport and at the Brussels metro. It is suspected that the explosion at the airport was a result of a suicide bomber. Also, another bomb went off a sort time later at the Maalbeck metro station.  The AP is reporting that at least 28 people are dead and many more injured.

The Belgian Prime Minister, Charles Michel said speaking after the attacks.“Our fears have become reality.” 

Many people have been killed or seriously injured in terrorist attacks at Brussels international airport and a city metro station, Belgium’s PM says.

Two explosions hit Zaventem airport at about 07:00 GMT, and another struck Maelbeek metro station an hour later.

The government has not confirmed casualty numbers. Brussels transport officials say 15 died at Maelbeek and media say up to 13 died at the airport.

Belgium has now raised its terror threat to its highest level.

UPDATE I: Explosions rock Brussels airport, subway; 28 reported dead.

Explosions, at least one likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the Brussels airport and subway system Tuesday, prompting a lockdown of the Belgian capital and heightened security across Europe. At least 28 people were reported dead.

A spokesman for the Brussels Metro said 15 people were killed and 55 injured in an explosion on a train, and Belgian media reported at least 13 dead in two explosions at the airport, with many others injured.

Belgium raised its terror alert to the highest level, diverting planes and trains and ordering people to stay where they were. Airports across Europe immediately tightened security.

“We are at war,” French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said after a crisis meeting called by the French president. “We have been subjected for the last few months in Europe to acts of war.”

European security officials have been bracing for a major attack for weeks, and warned that the Islamic State group was actively preparing to strike. The arrest Friday of a key suspect in the November attacks in Paris heightened those fears, as investigators said many more people were involved than originally thought, and that some are still on the loose.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Tuesday’s attacks, and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said there was no immediate evidence linking key Paris suspect Salah Abdeslam to them. After his arrest Friday, Abdeslam told authorities he had created a new network and was planning new attacks.

Belgian media reported that 13 people were killed at the airport, where two explosions splattered blood across the departure lounge and collapsed the ceiling. The explosions hit during the busy morning rush. Smoke was seen billowing out of the terminal.

VIDEO – NBC News

UPDATE II: Brussels Airport and Metro Explosions.

Authorities confirmed an explosion at Maalbeck metro station killed 15 people and injured 55 others.

At least 1 fatality ocurred at the airport, federal police told NBC News. Health Minister Maggie de Block told a journalist with the Belga News Agency that the explosions at the airport killed at least 11 people and wounded 81. NBC News was not immediately able to confirm the report.

All trains, planes, trams and buses were halted in Brussels. The main Midi train station was evacuated.

Sunita Van Heers had come to the train station after seeing the metro was on lockdown. Then police evacuated the station.

“Everybody started panicking, crying, not knowing what was happening,” she said, describing how police ordered people away from the station. “It’s scary.”

UPDATE III: Well Its about time Western Europe Admits they are at War.

“We are at war,” French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said after a crisis meeting called by the French president. “We have been subjected for the last few months in Europe to acts of war.”

European security officials have been bracing for a major attack for weeks, and warned that the Islamic State group was actively preparing to strike. The arrest Friday of a key suspect in the November attacks in Paris heightened those fears, as investigators said many more people were involved than originally thought, and that some are still on the loose.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Tuesday’s attacks, and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said there was no immediate evidence linking key Paris suspect Salah Abdeslam to them. After his arrest Friday, Abdeslam told authorities he had created a new network and was planning new attacks.

Two People Killed Thursday in An Anti-Terrorism Operation in Verviers, Belgium (VIDEO)

Two people jihadists have been killed and a another has been arrested in an anti-terrorism operation in  Verviers, Belgium. The individuals are believed to have links to ISIS and to have been planning attacks in Belgium.  The operation was intended to check on suspected radicals, one of several being conducted against people believed to have returned to Belgium after taking part in the Syrian civil war. As reported at the Jerusalem Post, public service radio RTBF said there were no casualties among the security forces involved. Two unidentified people were killed and a third seriously wounded. Several others were detained. This comes on the foot-heals of the terrorist attacks in Paris that left 17 dead. Looks like Europe may finally have gotten the wake up call on radical Islam.

Counter-terror police, in a series of raids, rounded up suspects they believed were intent on launching terror operations in Belgium, officials said.

At least two suspects died during the raids, and another was injured, officials told members of the media today. The officials said no police or civilians were injured after the suspects opened fire with automatic weapons.

VIDEO – Sky News

CNN:

Two people were killed Thursday in an anti-terrorism operation in the eastern Belgian city of Verviers, CNN affiliate VTM News reported.

The group is believed to have links to ISIS and to have been planning attacks in Belgium, CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank said.

Federal Belgian police took at least one suspect into custody near a train station, VTM News said. Further details weren’t immediately available.

Verviers is about 69 miles (111 kilometers) east-southeast of Brussels and 200 miles (322 kilometers) northeast of Paris.

The anti-terrorism raid comes amid heightened alerts in Europe after this month’s attack on the office of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris.

Anti-terrorism operations were underway in other cities, a senior Belgian counter-terrorism official told Cruickshank.

Amateur Video – Assault rue de la colline, Verviers

The Telegraph – Casualties in Belgium police anti-terror raid in Verviers:

The suspects opened fire on police in Verviers, in the east of the country, before being killed, the prosecutor said. No policemen were injured during the operation, in which 10 buildings were searched.

The group was about to mount terrorist attacks on a “grand scale”, the prosecutor said.

“A second Paris has been avoided,” a ministry of justice source told Nieuwsblad newspaper.

Local residents in Verviers heard a fusillade of machine gun shots and explosions.

A local resident said: “I heard two explosions and saw two young men run away. They were between 25 and 30 years of Arab origin.”

UPDATE I: Belgium on high alert after deadly anti-terror raid.

Referring to the raid itself, he said: “The suspects immediately and for several minutes opened fire with military weaponry and handguns on the special units of the federal police before they were neutralised.”

Officials said police came under sustained fire from a flat above a bakery.

After the operation, four Kalashnikovs, bomb-making equipment and police clothing were found, according to local media. Security forces remain in the Verviers area.

Police are expected to provide more details at a briefing on Friday.