Brussels bomber 'had ISIS sympathies'

Belgian investigators found evidence on Wednesday that a suspect who set off a bomb at a Brussels train station earlier this week had sympathies with the Islamic State group.

Police found explosive materials in a raid on the home of the suspect in Molenbeek, a Brussels district which has been linked to recent deadly terror plots in France and Belgium, prosecutors said.

Belgian authorities identified the man, who was shot dead by a soldier, as a 36-year-old Moroccan national with the initials O.Z., while local media named him as Oussama Zariouh.

Prosecutors said police have taken into custody four people who were in "regular contact" with the suspect.

No one was injured in Tuesday's foiled attack at Brussels Central station, but officials said the consequences could have been severe had the bomb full of nails and gas canisters detonated properly.

The man shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) during the attack,  Belgian federal prosecutor's spokesman Eric Van Der Sypt said, confirming witness reports.

"There are also indications that the suspect had sympathies for the terrorist organisation ISIS," he added.

Belgium has been targeted by terrorists in the past. In March 2016, terrorists affiliated with ISIS carried out a coordinated attack at Brussels Airport in Zaventem and Maalbeek metro station in the city, killing 32 people.

The attacks were carried out by the same Brussels-based cell behind the November 2015 suicide bombings and shootings in Paris which left 130 people dead.