Belgian Court Sentences 8 over Brussels Terror Attack

The sentencing ended the country's largest-ever criminal trial © JOHN THYS / POOL/AFP
The sentencing ended the country's largest-ever criminal trial © JOHN THYS / POOL/AFP
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Belgian Court Sentences 8 over Brussels Terror Attack

The sentencing ended the country's largest-ever criminal trial © JOHN THYS / POOL/AFP
The sentencing ended the country's largest-ever criminal trial © JOHN THYS / POOL/AFP

A Belgian court on Friday handed out sentences ranging up to life in prison to eight men for the 2016 militant bombings in Brussels, ending the country's largest-ever criminal trial.

The suicide bombings on March 22, 2016 at Brussels' main airport and on the metro system killed 32 people and were claimed by ISIS.

French citizen Salah Abdeslam and Belgian-Moroccan Mohamed Abrini -- already sentenced to life in jail by France for a 2015 massacre in Paris -- were the highest-profile of six culprits found guilty of murder in July.

Abrini, who was one of the designated bombers but decided not to blow himself up at the last moment, was given a 30-year jail term.

The court ruled not to give Abdeslam an additional term after he was sentenced in Belgium to 20 years in 2018 over a shootout.

The bombings -- near the headquarters of both NATO and the EU -- were part of a wave of attacks claimed by ISIS in Europe.

Hundreds of travellers and transport staff were maimed and, seven years on many victims, relatives and rescuers remain traumatized by the biggest peacetime attack in Belgium.

Authorities later raised the official death toll from the attacks to 35, after finding a link between the trauma suffered and the later deaths of three more people.

Dozens of wounded survivors and bereaved relatives gave emotional testimony during the months of hearings.

The trial, which started at the end of last year, was held under tight security at the converted former headquarters of the NATO military alliance.

Abdeslam, who turned 34 on Friday, was the sole surviving perpetrator of the 2015 Paris attack that killed 130 people.

He had fled to Brussels after taking part in the Paris attacks and holed up for four months in an apartment hosting members of the local cell.

He was arrested several days before the Brussels bombings took place, but the jury decided he was one of the co-authors of the attack.

A Belgian court turned down a request from the convict to stay in the country to carry out his sentence and he should eventually return to France to serve it.

Abrini was found guilty of being in one of the teams of suicide bombers who targeted Brussels' airport and a metro station.

He testified that he had decided at the last minute not to detonate his explosive at the airport -- as did another defendant, Osama Krayem, a Swede of Syrian descent.

Krayem was handed a life sentence, along with Bilal El Makhoukhi and Oussama Atar.

Atar, a senior commander in ISIS group who headed the militant cell, was tried in absentia because he is presumed to have died in Syria in 2017.

Herve Bayingana Muhirwa, found guilty of "participating in the activities of a terrorist group", was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Tunisian Sofien Ayari, also convicted on that lesser charge, was like Abdeslam not handed additional jail time as the court said sentences in previous cases were sufficient.

The court ruled not to strip any of the convicts of their Belgian nationalities.



Somaliland Denies It Will Host Palestinians, Israeli Base

This picture taken on November 7, 2024 shows a general view of the city of Hargeisa, capital and largest city of the self-proclaimed Republic of Somaliland. (AFP)
This picture taken on November 7, 2024 shows a general view of the city of Hargeisa, capital and largest city of the self-proclaimed Republic of Somaliland. (AFP)
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Somaliland Denies It Will Host Palestinians, Israeli Base

This picture taken on November 7, 2024 shows a general view of the city of Hargeisa, capital and largest city of the self-proclaimed Republic of Somaliland. (AFP)
This picture taken on November 7, 2024 shows a general view of the city of Hargeisa, capital and largest city of the self-proclaimed Republic of Somaliland. (AFP)

The breakaway region of Somaliland on Thursday denied allegations by the Somali president that it would take resettled Palestinians or host an Israeli military base in exchange for Israel recognizing its independence.

Israel last week became the first country to recognize Somaliland as an "independent and sovereign state", triggering protests across Somalia.

On Wednesday, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, citing intelligence reports, told Al Jazeera that Somaliland had accepted three conditions from Israel: the resettlement of Palestinians, the establishment of a military base on the Gulf of Aden, and joining the Abraham Accords to normalize ties with Israel.

Somaliland's foreign ministry denied the first two conditions.

"The Government of the Republic of Somaliland firmly rejects false claims made by the President of Somalia alleging the resettlement of Palestinians or the establishment of military bases in Somaliland," it said in a statement on X.

It said the deal was "purely diplomatic".

"These baseless allegations are intended to mislead the international community and undermine Somaliland's diplomatic progress," it added.

But analysts say an alliance with Somaliland is especially useful to Israel for its strategic position on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, close to the Iran-backed Houthi in Yemen, who have struck Israel repeatedly since the start of the Gaza war.

Somaliland unilaterally declared independence in 1991 and has enjoyed far more peace than the rest of conflict-hit Somalia, establishing its own elections, currency and army.

Its location alongside one of the world's busiest shipping lanes has made it a key partner for foreign countries.


Flash Floods Triggered by Heavy Rains in Afghanistan Kill at Least 17 People

Smog is seen over Kabul, Afghanistan, 31 December 2025. (EPA)
Smog is seen over Kabul, Afghanistan, 31 December 2025. (EPA)
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Flash Floods Triggered by Heavy Rains in Afghanistan Kill at Least 17 People

Smog is seen over Kabul, Afghanistan, 31 December 2025. (EPA)
Smog is seen over Kabul, Afghanistan, 31 December 2025. (EPA)

The season’s first heavy rains and snowfall ended a prolonged dry spell but triggered flash floods in several areas of Afghanistan, killing at least 17 people and injuring 11 others, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s national disaster management authority said Thursday.

The dead included five members of a family in a property where the roof collapsed on Thursday in Kabkan, a district in the Herat province, according to Mohammad Yousaf Saeedi, spokesman for the Herat governor. Two of the victims were children.

Most of the casualties have occurred since Monday in districts hit by flooding, and the severe weather also disrupted daily life across central, northern, southern, and western regions, according to Mohammad Yousaf Hammad, a spokesman for Afghanistan's National Disaster Management Authority.

Hammad said the floods also damaged infrastructure in the affected districts, killed livestock, and affected 1,800 families, worsening conditions in already vulnerable urban and rural communities.

Hammad said the agency has sent assessment teams to the worst-affected areas, with surveys ongoing to determine further needs.

Afghanistan, like neighboring Pakistan and India, is highly vulnerable to extreme weather events, particularly flash floods following seasonal rains.

Decades of conflict, poor infrastructure, deforestation, and the intensifying effects of climate change have amplified the impact of such disasters, especially in remote areas where many homes are made of mud and offer limited protection against sudden deluges.

The United Nations and other aid agencies this week warned that Afghanistan is expected to remain one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises in 2026. The UN and its humanitarian partners launched a $1.7 billion appeal on Tuesday to assist nearly 18 million people in urgent need in the country.


Thousands Stage Pro-Gaza Rally in Istanbul

Demonstrators gather on the Galata Bridge holding Palestinian and Turkish flags during a pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Demonstrators gather on the Galata Bridge holding Palestinian and Turkish flags during a pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
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Thousands Stage Pro-Gaza Rally in Istanbul

Demonstrators gather on the Galata Bridge holding Palestinian and Turkish flags during a pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Demonstrators gather on the Galata Bridge holding Palestinian and Turkish flags during a pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Thousands joined a New Year's Day rally for Gaza in Istanbul Thursday, waving Palestinian and Turkish flags and calling for an end to the violence in the tiny war-torn territory.

Demonstrators gathered in freezing temperatures under cloudless blue skies to march to the city's Galata Bridge for a rally under the slogan: "We won't remain silent, we won't forget Palestine," an AFP reporter at the scene said.

More than 400 civil society organizations were present at the rally, one of whose organizers was Bilal Erdogan, the youngest son of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Police sources and Anadolou state news agency said some 500,000 people had joined the march at which there were speeches and a performance by Lebanese-born singer Maher Zain of his song "Free Palestine".

"We are praying that 2026 will bring goodness for our entire nation and for the oppressed Palestinians," said Erdogan, who chairs the board of the Ilim Yayma Foundation, an educational charity that was one of the organizers of the march.

Türkiye has been one of the most vocal critics of the war in Gaza and helped broker a recent ceasefire that halted the deadly war waged by Israel in response to Hamas' unprecedented attack on October 7, 2023.

But the fragile October 10 ceasefire has not stopped the violence with more than more than 400 Palestinians killed since it took hold.