Brussels attacks: Six arrests as investigation continues

Belgian police have arrested six people in Brussels as a major investigation continues into attacks that claimed 31 lives in the city on Tuesday.

The arrests were made in the Schaerbeek district. There is no word yet on the identities of the suspects or their possible connection to the attacks.

Separately, in France, a suspect who was plotting an attack has been arrested near Paris, officials said.

The Brussels bombings have been linked to last November's Paris attacks and the Islamic State militant group has claimed reponsibility for both attacks.

The arrests in Schaerbeek were made late on Thursday, and followed house-to-house searches in the area.

Residents said they heard explosions during the police raids but the cause was unclear.

Also on Thursday evening, French police launched an anti-terror operation in Argenteuil, north-west of Paris, following the arrest hours earlier of a man suspected of planning an attack.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the suspected militant, a French national, was in an "advanced stage" of a plot, adding that no connection had been made to either the Brussels or the Paris attacks.

Police sources quoted in French media say the suspect had been convicted in his absence in another European country for seeking IS recruits to go to Syria.