Minsk's KGB investigates 2 Belarusian brothers for involvement in today's Brussels attack, but they say it wasn't them
The Belarusian KGB says it's currently reviewing news reports that two Belarusian citizens were involved in today's terrorist attacks in Brussels, according to the agency's spokesperson, Dmitry Pobyarzhin.
On March 14, the Russian news agency LifeNews (which generally runs fiercely pro-Kremlin, borderline-tabloid stories) reported that two Belarusian citizens were wanted by police for their role in preparing a terrorist attack in Belgium. According to LifeNews, the suspects were two brothers: 27-year-old Alexey Dovbash and 23-year-old Ivan Dovbash. The report also mentions a third man named Marat Yunusov.
Pobyarzhin told Belarusian media today that the country's federal police are aware of the Dovbash brothers and Mr. Yunusov. According to the Belarusian news site TUT.by, the Dovbash brothers moved to Belgium when they were still young, after their mother married a Belgian man. Only Alexey made return visits to Belarus, TUT.by says, but both men have reportedly converted to Islam.
The Russian state news agency Sputnik, meanwhile, claims that Alexey Dovbash didn't leave Belarus until 2008. Sputnik also says Marat Yunusov is a native of Dagestan, though TUT.by and LifeNews report that he was born in Belarus.
The Belarusian division of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty notes that Ivan Dovbash is registered as Suleiman Dovbash on social networks, where he has already denied any involvement in today's terrorist attacks in Brussels. Another Internet user going by the name Khalid Dovash (presumably Ivan's older brother, Alexey) has also denied any part in the attacks.
“We're currently reviewing information about their possible involvement in terrorist activities,” said the KGB's spokesman.