Six people have been arrested following the murder of police officer Nordine El Talbi while he was on a reconnaissance mission, the Brussels public prosecutor has told a press conference. They are accused of the murder of a person holding a public office and of forming a criminal organisation.
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Six suspects arrested in connection with murder of police officer in Brussels
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Two suspects were arrested in Belgium, one at a railway station in Paris and three in the southern Spanish city of Almería. Belgium has requested the extradition of the four arrested in France and Spain.
The suspects are five adults and one juvenile. According to public prosecutor Julien Moinil, they are all Belgian citizens from Brussels who are known for drug trafficking. The arrests took place “in the hours leading up to the press conference”. Those arrested in Spain were likely fleeing to Morocco.
El Talbi was killed during a police operation on the night of 12 October following a violent carjacking in Tubize, Walloon Brabant. The stolen car was located in the Brussels municipality of Jette, with drugs and weapons found inside. Officers from the Anti-Robbery Brigade were dispatched to the scene.
El Talbi went to reconnoitre the location in plain clothes, as is customary in such operations. Shortly afterwards, colleagues found him shot by a bullet to the head.
According to Brussels police chief Michel Goovaerts, the 41-year-old was a highly experienced and respected colleague who had been an officer in Brussels for more than 15 years. He joined the Anti-Robbery Brigade, a specialist unit deployed for high-risk operations, in 2019.
He was commemorated by police forces across the country last Friday, including with a ceremony in Brussels’ Jubelpark.
