Kim Hjelmgaard, and Doug Stanglin

USA TODAY

Salah Abdeslam, the main fugitive from November's Paris terror attack, was arrested Friday along with two other suspects in a raid on an apartment in a Brussels suburb, French President Francois Hollande said.

Abdeslam, 26, was wounded in an intense gun battle as heavily armed security forces descended on a house in Molenbeek, a Brussels suburb where several of the Paris terrorists once lived. He was wounded in the knee in the raid, according to Ahmed El Khannouss, the deputy mayor of Molenbeek.

French television showed images of police dragging a man with a white hooded sweatshirt into an unmarked police car as the operation unfolded.

Another man who was arrested, Monir Ahmed Alaaj, also was on a wanted list, the BBC reported Belgian prosecutors said.

Hollande, in a joint news briefing with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, confirmed Abdeslam's arrest and said he was "directly linked to preparing, organizing and, unfortunately, perpetrating" the attacks in November in Paris that killed 130 people. Michel called the arrests a success in the “fight against terrorism.”

France will seek Abdeslam's extradition from Belgium, Hollande said.

He said there would be other arrests shortly "that will allow us to know the real truth and that justice will be carried out."

"Until we have arrested all those who took part.(in the Paris attacks) ....our fight will not be over," Hollande said.

Three members of a family accused of harboring Abdeslam also have been detained, the BBC reported.

"The importance of Abdeslam's capture cannot be overstated," said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., (D-CA), the Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, "He may be the only remaining member of the team that directly participated in terrorizing, and has been called the logistical chief for the group because he reportedly booked cars and hotel rooms, and ferried suicide bombers to their destinations."

The four-month search for Abdeslam kicked into high gear on Tuesday after two men were seen fleeing a police raid on an apartment in the Forest neighborhood of Brussels. Abdeslam's fingerprints and DNA were found at the site, raising the suspicion he was among the pair that had escaped. One person was killed in the operation.

On Friday, as the search zeroed in on the Brussels area, police outfitted with helmets and armor mounted the operation in a residential area of Molenbeek.

Abdeslam has been on the run since gunmen went on a shooting spree in Paris at cafes, a rock concert and a stadium. Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Most of the terrorists died that night, including Abdeslam’s brother Brahim, who blew himself up. French officials said Salah was among the original terrorists, but discarded his suicide vest and cellphone and fled the city.

Police: One suspect dead in Brussels anti-terror raid

Police almost captured Abdeslam that same evening, but he slipped undetected through a checkpoint on the highway between the French capital and Brussels.

In Tuesday's raid in Brussels, a police sniper killed Mohamed Belkaid, a 35-year-old Algerian, as he prepared to fire on police, according to Thierry Werts, a Belgian prosecutor, the Associated Press reported. A Kalashnikov was found by his body, as well as a book on Salafism, an ultraconservative strain of Islam.

Police also found an Islamic State banner as well as 11 Kalashnikov loaders and a large quantity of ammunition, the prosecutor said. The search of another residence in the area turned up another Kalashnikov as well as two loaded magazines, Belgian officials said.

Four police officers were wounded in the joint French-Belgian operation.