There were talks of 4 different house raids, but the main operation took place at the Vierwindenstraat 79 in Molenbeek. The raid started around 5PM and was finished around 6PM.

Journalists in the area said police were using so-called flash grenades in an attempt to get inside. This type of grenade is also known as a sound bomb or flashbang. It can give police troops an advantage over people hiding inside a house, and allow them to enter and arrest the suspects. Shots were also heard.

The operation eventually took about one hour only. Salah Abdeslam was apprehended alive. Police were hot on his heels the past days, after raiding a house in Vorst on Tuesday, where his fingerprints were discovered on a glass. Abdeslam, public enemy number 1 in and around Belgium, was shot in the leg and taken to hospital. Another suspect was also arrested, he also sustained a shot wound in the leg.