Brussels police conduct more raids linked to deadly bombings

BRUSSELS (AP) — Police raided Brussels neighborhoods today in operations described as linked to this week's bombings as well as a suspected new plot in France. They detained three people and shot two of them in the leg, including one who was carrying a suspicious bag while accompanied by a young girl.

Gunfire and two blasts rang out in the Schaerbeek district, the same area where police had earlier found explosives and bomb-making material in an apartment used by the suicide attackers who killed 31 people and wounded 270 on Tuesday in the airport and subway.

The district also was raided Thursday night. Police also searched the Forest and Saint-Gilles neighborhoods Friday, the Belgian federal prosecutor's office said, detailing the arrests and shootings.

Dozens of heavily armed officers began the operation about 1:30 p.m., when there were "two big explosions," resident Marie-Pierre Bouvez told The Associated Press, and it lasted about two hours. It was not immediately clear if the blasts heard were controlled explosions.