The leader of the jihadist cell overturned this week in Belgium remains at large, a Belgian minister said Jan.18, following the arrests in Greece earlier, RIA Novosti reports referring to AFP.
The group's suspected leader Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a 27-year-old Belgian of Moroccan origin, spent time fighting alongside the Islamic State group in Syria.
He was already known to security forces after appearing in an Islamic State video, driving a car transporting mutilated bodies to a mass grave.
He is now on the run as he is suspected of being the leader of the Jihadist cell operating in Belgium.
Asked if the suspected leader remained on the run after two people were arrested in Athens Saturday in connection with the Belgian probe, Justice Minister Koen Geens told VRT television: "That is indeed the case."
"Last night's arrests did not succeed in nabbing the right person. We are still actively looking for him and I presume we will succeed," he added.
According to AFP, Belgium's Flemish-language VTM channel informed that Abaaoud made calls from Greece to the brother of one of the two heavily-armed suspects killed in Verviers.
So far 13 people have been arrested in Belgium in connection with the investigation, five of whom have been charged with "participating in the activities of a terrorist group."
During searches of their homes, police found guns, bomb-making materials, police uniforms and fake documents. Further searches were made on Jan.18 in the Brussels district of Molenbeek where Abaaoud lived.
The Belgian government has raised the terror alert level to its second-highest position amidst concerns over young Europeans returning home after fighting and training alongside extremist groups in the Middle East and Africa.