Brussels prepares to mark the first anniversary of the attacks that killed 32 and wounded hundreds four months after Islamic State militants killed 130 people in Paris and sent shockwaves around Europe and across the world.
On March 22, 2016, three Islamic State suicide bombers, all Belgian nationals, blew themselves up at Brussels airport and in a metro train in the Belgian capital.
Prior to the Brussels attacks, the city was at the heart of investigations into the Paris attacks, after the links to the Belgian capital, and its poor district of Molenbeek in particular, emerged.
Frenchman Salah Abdeslam, prime surviving suspect for the Paris attacks, was shot in the leg and captured in Molenbeek, ending an intensive four-month manhunt.
The largely-Muslim neighborhood was the scene of tense clashes between riot squads and local youths.
The investigations into the Paris and Brussels attacks sent Belgian security forces into numerous raids and searches across the country, mainly in the capital.
The March 22 attacks on a city that is home to the European Union and NATO also sent authorities racing to review security at airports and on public transport. It also rekindled debate about lagging European security cooperation and flaws in police surveillance.
