His capture was confirmed by Belgium’s Justice Minister, who said: “We got him.”
Belgian federal prosecutors on Friday said that they found the fingerprints of Abdeslam, who is the most wanted suspect of the November 17 attacks, during a Brussels raid on Tuesday.
A police spokeswoman said an operation was ongoing and could not give further details, the Belgian newspaper DH reported.
Earlier today shots were heard in the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek as police launched anti-terror raids there.
Belgian PM Charles Michel had to urgently leave an EU-Turkey summit in Brussels, the BBC reported.
On Tuesday a terror raid in another Brussels suburb left an Algerian national Mohamed Belkaid dead. He was killed by snipers while trying to fire at police through a window in the suburb of Forest.
Four officers were injured in that raid and police said they were still hunting two suspects who were in the apartment.
The raid was linked to the overarching investigation into the Paris terror attacks last year which resulted in the deaths of 130 people.
The so-called Islamic State (IS) militant group said it carried out the attacks.