A taxi driver who drove the attackers to the airport later led police to an apartment in the Schaerbeek area of Brussels, where investigators found explosive devices loaded with nails and chemicals, along with an Islamic State flag.
“It was exactly the same type of bomb as at the airport,” the senior official said.
Within hours of Tuesday’s assault, the Islamic State asserted responsibility for the attacks, according to a statement posted on the Amaq Agency, a website believed to be close to the extremist group. The message said Belgium was targeted because of its participation in an international coalition battling the group in Syria and Iraq. U.S. and European security officials said they believed the claim to be credible.
In Washington, State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said “approximately a dozen” Americans were injured in the blasts, but “a number” of U.S. citizens remained unaccounted for on Wednesday — without providing more specific figures.
The State Department also issued an alert on traveling in Europe, urging Americans to avoid crowded places and to exercise caution during religious holidays and at large festivals or events.
Europe has struggled mightily with spillover from the churning conflict in Syria. Thousands of European citizens have traveled there to fight in a war that has become a focal point for jihadists around the world. Many have returned to Europe radicalized. Europe has vowed to confront them.
“This is a kind of scenario every capital in Europe feared since the November attacks last year. A mixture of foreign fighters coming back with experience, local sympathizers on the other hand,” said Rik Coolsaet, a terrorism expert at Ghent University who has advised the Belgian government on how to fight radicalization. “You have such a large number of soft targets, and you cannot secure all of them.”
An earlier version of this story noted reports by Belgian media, citing police sources, that the suspect arrested appeared to be alleged bombmaker Najim Laachraoui. Belgian media later amended the reports to say the identity of the suspect was not known.
James McAuley and Anthony Faiola in Brussels, Daniela Deane and Karla Adam in London, and Brian Murphy, Carol Morello and Matt Zapotosky in Washington contributed to this report.
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