A widespread power outage plunged parts of the Belgian capital Brussels into darkness on Thursday night.

Pictures posted on social media showed blacked-out streets, lit only by a handful of car headlights and torches.

The power outage hit the neighbourhoods of Schaerbeek, Evere and Saint-Josse,

Sibelga, the power company, and Elia, the network operator, confirmed there was a fault in the city's electricity grid and said power was gradually being restored to affected areas.

The power failure reportedly began at about 22.45 local time (21:45 GMT).

Traffic lights were reportedly knocked out in parts of the city.

The cause of the power failure is still unknown.</s>The city of Brussels was plunged into darkness Thursday because of a mysterious power outage.

The sounds of sirens were reported throughout the Belgian capital, which was the site of a coordinated terror attack last year that killed 32 civilians and injured hundreds more.

Videos and photos posted on social media showed the eerie scene.

“Power out as far as I can see in all directions,” tweeted Independent correspondent Jennifer Baker.

While the cause of outage has not been confirmed, the Daily Mirror reported that Belgian security forces were boosting their manpower at main sites around Brussels as authorities asses the situation.

The Belgian city is the site of several key EU bodies, including the European Commission and European Council.

The northern part of Brussels was said to have been affected the worst by the blackout, which was first reported at around 10:45 p.m. local time, according to the Daily Mail.

An earlier power outage reportedly struck a portion of city several hours earlier, but was resolved by 8:30pm, the outlet reports.</s>Brussels has been plunged into darkness 'in all directions' tonight following a 'massive power cut'.

It is believed the northern part of the EU capital has been affected the worst with the cause still to be identified.

The power outage is understood to have happened at around 10.45pm local time and it is currently unknown how many people are without power.

An early power cut is understood to have hit a smaller part of the city earlier in the evening but was 'resolved by 8.30pm'.

Lights are still on in some EU buildings, including the European Council and European Commission headquarters.

Gas and electricity services in Brussels are provided by power firm Sibelga.</s>Brussels has been plunged into darkness after a massive power cut.

The loss of electricity across the Belgian capital has reportedly sparked terror attack fears, although the cause of the outage has not been confirmed.

Belgium and other European countries are on high alert following several devastating terror attacks over the past 12 months.

Brussels is home to a number of key EU bodies, including the European Commission and European Council, both of which are situated in the centre of the city.

Belgian security personnel ares reinforcing main sites across Brussels as the blackout causes transport chaos.

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We're also on Facebook/dailymirror - your must-see news, features, videos and pictures throughout the day from the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Mirror Online.</s>Brussels has been plunged into darkness after a massive power cut.

The loss of electricity across the Belgian capital has reportedly sparked terror attack fears, although the cause of the outage has not been confirmed.

Belgium and other European countries are on high alert following several devastating terrorist incidents over the past 12 months.

Brussels is home to a number of key EU bodies, including the European Commission and European Council, both of which are situated in the centre of the city.

The sounds of police sirens can be heard coming from the centre of the city in footage posted online by people tonight.

Belgian security personnel ares reinforcing main sites across Brussels as the blackout causes transport chaos.

It has not been revealed when the power will be turned back on, but incredible images from across the city show just a handful of buildings with any lights still on - and they are presumably served by generators.

The Molonbeek area of the city was the centre of an intensive anti-terror operation last year as cops hunted for Salah Abdeslam in connection with the Paris bombings.

Abdeslam was Europol's most wanted man following the Paris attacks and became the target of one of the largest manhunts in modern European history.He was finally seized in a police raid in the Molenbeek area of Brussels after four months on the run.

The so-called Islamic State claimed responsibility for the November 2015 Paris attacks which were the deadliest on France since World War II.

Gunmen killed 89 people at an Eagles of Death Metal concert at the Bataclan theatre, three suicide bombers struck outside the Stade de France during a football match, and there were more mass shootings and a suicide bombing at bars and restaurants.

Last month a prime suspect once known as the ‘Man in the Hat’ who was allegedly involved in terror attacks on Paris and Brussels was formally charged with a range of terrorist offences.

Mohamed Abrini, 32, faces multiple life sentences after a brief appearance in front of a judge in the French capital.

Under conditions of utmost security, he arrived in Paris from Brussels in an armed convoy and was taken in a specified court that deals with terrorist defendants in the centre of the city.

A prosecuting source said: "As part of the investigation following the November 13 2015 attacks in Paris, Mohamed Abrini was handed over to the French judicial authorities for a period of one day."

Abrini, a Belgian passport holder, was caught in Brussels in April last year after also being linked with the March 22 attacks on the Belgian capital.

Investigators said that the same Islamic State gang hit both cities, causing a total of 162 deaths using AK-47s and explosives.

Abrini was dubbed the ‘Man in the hat’ after being caught on CCTV at Brussels aiport, where 16 died in an attack by suicide bombers. He fled from the airport, allegedly without detonating a suitcase bomb he was carrying, along with his accomplices Najim Laachraoui and Ibrahim El Bakraoui, who both died.

Abrini grew up in the Molenbeek district of Brussels with Salah Abdeslam. Abdeslam also dumped his suicide device, and ran away before being arrested in Brussels later on.

He is currently in a high security prison near Paris, awaiting trial. Abrini, of Moroccan origin, was also caught on camera at a petrol station north of Paris two days before the November 13 attacks with prime suspect Abdeslam.

Belgian authorities have charged Abrini with ‘participation in the activities of a terrorist group and terrorist murders’ following the atrocity in Paris.

Investigators said he briefly visited Syria last year and his younger brother Suleiman, 20, died there. A State of Emergency was imposed in France following both attacks, and the country remains on the highest state of alert.</s>Security fears swept across the EU capital as residents reporting hearing sirens across the city. Repair teams are now working quickly to restore power to the Belgian capital after a power network operator confirmed there is a fault in the grid.

Elia, a Belgian high-voltage transmission system operator, tweeted: “The blackout in Brussels is not a terrorist attack but a technical error in one of the high-voltage substations.” The number of people without power is unknown but the suburbs of Evere, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert and Schaerbeek have all been affected. Sibelga, a gas and electricity service operator in the city, is keeping people updated via Twitter and said power is slowly being restored.

The main power cut is believed to have happened at around 9.45pm GMT (10.45pm local time), while there was also a smaller outage at earlier in the evening which was resolved by around 7.30pm GMT (8.30pm local time). Both the European Commission and the European Council headquarters still have power, according to reports.

Dozens of people in the city took to social media to post extraordinary pictures of the blackout. Citizens were urged to stay calm as repair teams worked to restore power.

The city has been on high terror alert after three coordinated suicide attacks killed 35 people and left more than 300 injured last year. The bombings were the deadliest terror attack in Belgium’s history and came just months after a similar attack in Paris.</s>A power cut plunged several neighbourhoods of Brussels into darkness overnight after an unknown problem hit the grid, the Belgian capital's electricity distributor said Friday."We are getting electricity again from (grid operator) Elia. We are gradually starting to restore the affected areas," Sibelga tweeted shortly after midnight.The power outage hit the neighbourhoods of Schaerbeek, Evere and Saint-Josse, in the northwest of the city, at 10.40 pm (2140 GMT), according to a Sibelga spokesman quoted by the Belga news agency.Five of the 48 high-voltage stations in Brussels were no longer powered by Elia, according to the spokesman.Radio programmes of the French-language public channel RTBF, headquartered in Schaerbeek, were affected by the blackout.Various RTBF stations broadcast continuous music instead of their usual programmes.Worried residents contacted police, Belga said, but on social networks others took it in their stride, delighted to spend a romantic candlelit evening, with some even predicting a baby boom in nine months' time.Source: Agence France-Presse</s>Belgium: US youth linked to cyberattack on Brussels airport

BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgian authorities say that a U.S. youth in Pittsburgh tried to hack into the Brussels airport computer system and disable it the night after the March 22 attacks that killed 32 people.

The federal prosecutor's office said in a statement Thursday that at its request, the FBI interrogated the American minor and said he confessed. The statement said the hacking attempt was unsuccessful and stressed that "it appeared there were no terrorist motives."

Belgian authorities have been on high alert since suicide bombers attacked the Brussels airport and subway system last March 22.</s>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a reprimand of the Belgian Ambassador after a meeting between Belgium’s PM and leaders of two Israeli human rights groups accusing the Israeli army of abuse in occupied Palestinian territories.

“The Belgian government needs to decide whether it wants to change direction or continue with an anti-Israel line,” Netanyahu’s office warned in a statement Wednesday, referring to Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel’s decision to hold a meeting with heads of B’tselem and Breaking the Silence right groups during his three-day official visit to Israel.

The Belgian ambassador, Olivier Belle, is set to be summoned to the Israeli Foreign Ministry on Thursday.

Both human rights groups are known for uncovering cases of abuse of power by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) against Palestinians, such as random shootings of civilians. The groups constantly face accusations of denigrating Israel’s image, undermining its security and endangering the lives of soldiers.

While criticizing Michel for meeting human rights activists, the Israeli PM’s office also pointed to another “unfriendly” gesture by Belgium, which had opened an investigation into the alleged war crimes during the Israeli offensive in Gaza in late December 2008 and early January 2009 known as Operation Cast Lead. Last month, the Zionist Union’s Tzipi Livni, who was foreign minister at the time of the operation, canceled a visit to Brussels after the Belgian prosecutor’s office announced it wanted to question her.

READ MORE: Mass incarceration: 71% of Israeli prisoners aren’t Jewish, majority are Palestinian

The Belgian PM met with NGO leaders just a day after a meeting with Netanyahu himself, during which the right-wing Israeli leader asked his Belgian counterpart to withdraw support from Israeli groups “that act against IDF soldiers and the State of Israel, including transferring funds indirectly,” the statement read, without providing any names.

As an organization established by veteran Israeli combatants in 2004, Breaking the Silence claims to gather first-hand accounts from soldiers depicting widespread human rights violations and bring them to light. The groups states that the “cases of abuse towards Palestinians, looting, and destruction of property,” which have become “the norm for years.”

Over the years, the group has collected testimonies from more than 1,000 IDF soldiers.

“The [Palestinian] civilians know they are not supposed to be there. Therefore, whoever you see there, you kill,” one of the testimonies citing alleged words of an IDF commander reads.

B’Tselem, founded in 1989, aims to “educate the Israeli public and policymakers about human rights violations in the Occupied Territories,” and “help create a human rights culture in Israel.”

READ MORE: ‘If Israel’s Tzipi Livni is not a war criminal, why does she refuse to defend herself in court?'

The Israeli government has been apparently trying to silence the groups by erecting legal barriers preventing them from reaching out to the general public. In January, a bill that would forbid nongovernmental organizations that “undermine the educational goals or harm IDF soldiers” from addressing students at schools was passed by the Israeli parliament in a preliminary hearing.

The proposed legislation is generally seen by the Israeli media as targeting Breaking the Silence. However, the group itself remained undeterred in its intentions.

“[Education Minister Naftali] Bennett’s obsession with Breaking the Silence only makes us stronger. While he tries to silence us, more and more youth hear about the occupation,” Breaking the Silence CEO Yuli Novak said at the time, as cited by the Jerusalem Post.</s>BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgian police have detained 11 people in a series of anti-terror raids in the Brussels area relating to an investigation into the possible return of fighters from Syria.

The federal prosecutor's office said in a statement Wednesday that the detentions came during nine night raids. It insisted the actions were not linked to the Brussels or Paris attacks over the past two years.

An investigating judge will decide later Wednesday whether the 11 will be arrested or released.

Belgian authorities have been on high alert since suicide bombers attacked the Brussels airport and subway system March 22, killing 32 people.
A power outage plunges the Belgian capital of Brussels into darkness.