Paris terrorist fugitive Salah Abdeslam - dubbed the world's most wanted man - is believed to have been taken alive by Belgian police in a raid on a safehouse in a suburb known as the 'jihadi capital of Europe'.
Dozens of heavily-armed police and special forces rushed a flat in Molenbeek, Brussels, as they hunted for the 26-year-old - one of three 'blood brothers' believed to be at the heart of French massacres where 129 people died on Friday.
Special forces clambered across the roof and were seen firing tear gas through a Velux-style window to flush out a suspect who later came out on to a balcony with his arms up.
On the street below huge numbers of police in balaclavas carrying machine guns surrounded the top floor flat and witnesses heard several bangs and small explosions during the two-hour armed stand-off. The Molenbeek mayor said today the siege ended with without any injuries.
A hooded man was handcuffed and put in a car by plain-clothes police - the Belgian media claimed this man was Salah Abdeslam but the authorities have not confirmed this.
Abdelsam has been the subject of a vast international manhunt but incredibly he was stopped and then released by French police guarding the Belgian border hours after the attacks.
It appears the terror suspect, believed to be a getaway driver and potential shooter, went into hiding in Molenbeek, where the eight-strong ISIS terror cell may have met before the Paris raids to gather automatic weapons and suicide vests.
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Drama: Terror suspect arrested in Belgian suburb of Molenbeek after a raid to find Paris terrorist fugitive Salah Abdeslam - dubbed the world's most wanted man
Flushed out: Special forces climbed across a roof before they fired tear gas (pictured) through a Velux-type window to flush out a suspect who came out on to a balcony with his arms up. Belgian media claimed this man was Salah Abdeslam
Operations: Witnesses said they also heard explosions and sounds like gunfire during the operation to surround the top floor flat in Brussels today. One soldier, left, appeared to be in charge and after the gas was fired in troops used a thermal camera to watch the results
Final act: Armed men in gas masks also assaulted the Molenbeek property through the door at street level - there were no injuries in the raid
Wanted man: Salah Abdeslam, 26, may have been arrested during an arrest on a Belgian safehouse this morning and is one of three brothers believed to be at the very centre of the Paris terror attacks
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