Obama orders flags at half-staff to honor Brussels victims

by Jordan Fabian - 03/22/16 5:03 PM ET

Flag is lowered to half-staff at the White House in wake of the #Brussels terror attacks. https://t.co/pqFRGpW4qQ https://t.co/6XzBOrgdsz

— ABC News (@ABC) March 22, 2016

President Obama has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff through Saturday to honor the victims of the Brussels terror attacks.

“The American people stand with the people of Brussels,” Obama wrote in a presidential proclamation issued Tuesday.

The order applies to the White House and all public buildings, diplomatic missions and military posts around the world.

{mosads}Obama addressed the attacks while he was in Cuba for the final day of his groundbreaking visit to the United States’s former Cold War foe.

“This is yet another reminder the world must unite. We must be together, regardless of nationality or race or faith, in fighting against the scourge of terrorism,” Obama said during a speech at Havana’s Great Theatre.

“We can and we will defeat those who threaten the safety and security of people all around the world.”

Two blasts at Brussels’s airport and another at a metro station shook the Belgian capital and prompted new fears about the reach of Islamic militants in Europe and the West.

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria took responsibility for the attacks.

The strikes left at least 34 dead and more than 100 wounded.

Tuesday’s bombings came just days after authorities arrested a suspect in last year’s Paris attacks.

Salah Abdeslam, 26, was injured during a shootout with police in the Molenbeek area of Brussels but survived and was taken into custody.

Tags Barack Obama Belgium Brussels Brussels attack