Paris terrorist Salah Abdeslam 'helped plot' Brussels terror attacks

THE ISIS jihadist that helped slaughter 130 in a terrorist attack on Paris played a part in the horror suicide bombings in Brussels yesterday, a senior Belgian official has said.

TERROR: Salah Abdeslam would likely have been involved in yesterday's horror attack on Brussels

A series of deadly attacks brought the Belgian capital of Brussels to its knees yesterday — with at least 34 people dead and two Brit casualties confirmed.

And now it has been claimed that terror suspect Salah Abdeslam, 26, who had been on the run since the Paris massacres in November is likely to have played a part in the assault on the capital had he not been arrested just four days before.

Nine other men in his terror cell blew themselves up or were gunned down by French police during the carnage in November last year.

But coward Abdeslam removed his suicide vest and fled after dropping off other killers in a car he had hired.

He got pals to drive him back to Brussels and – despite three police checks – remained a fugitive until last week.

On Saturday the terror suspect’s hiding spot was raided and he was dragged away by cops following a dramatic shootout in which he wounded his leg while trying to escape.

TIMELINE: A breakdown of black Tuesday in Brussels

And cops found his fingerprints in an apartment jam-packed with undetonated suicide bombs — which a senior official told insiders were likely going to be used in yesterday’s attacks, according to Politico. 

If this is true it is likely that Abdeslam plotted with the three suicide bombers who killed 34 and critically injured scores more in yesterday's terrorist plot on a Brussels airport and metro station.

Two of the murderers have been named as brothers Khalid and Ibrahim El Bakraoui. 

A third man – caught on CCTV with the El Bakraoui brothers at the airport – has been named as Europe's most wanted man, Najim Laachraoui.

Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders had warned after Abdeslam’s capture that the alleged Paris terror suspect was preparing further attacks.

"He was ready to restart something from Brussels, and it’s maybe the reality," he said, speaking at a conference on Saturday.

"We found a lot of weapons, heavy weapons in the first investigations, and we have seen a new network of people around him in Brussels."