Paris attacks suspect shot and arrested in Belgium

Salah Abdelsalam has been injured and arrested during a police raid in Belgium, it has emerged.

The 26-year-old fugitive, wanted in connection with the Paris attacks in November, was "caught alive" after a shoot-out in an apartment in Molenbeek near central Brussels, police sources told reporters on Friday.

Further explosions were heard in the suburb as night fell, amid unconfirmed reports of an extended manhunt closing on another suspect.

It has been reported that Abdelsalam - thought to be the last surviving member of a 10-strong team that killed 130 people in Paris in November - was shot in the leg, though this has not been officially confirmed.

Belgium's asylum and migration minister, Theo Francken, confirmed the arrest in a blunt tweet.

"We got him," the Belgian posted.

His fingerprints and DNA had been found during a raid on a flat in the Brussels suburb of Forest earlier this week, but evaded police during an exchange of gunfire, in which one suspect was killed and four police officers injured.

"It is more than likely that Abdelsalam was one of those who managed to escape, and everything is still being done to try and find him," a police source said on Tuesday, as detectives closed in on the gunman.

An assault rifle, a book about Salafism and the black flag of the Islamic State group were reportedly found during uesday's raid.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel was rushed from a European Union summit as Friday's events unfolded in the country's capital. He and French President Francois Hollande are expected to make a joint statement.

Abdelsalam is thought to have fled the scene of the Paris attacks, after dropping off other militants in a rental car before the attacks commenced. He is thought to have been driven to Brussels, passing at least three police checkpoints on the way.