Belgian police have arrested 16 people during a series of raids across the country after a huge security lockdown, but Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam was not among them, prosecutors say.

“Sixteen people were arrested” including one person who was injured in Brussels after police opened fire on a car that drove towards police, federal prosecutor spokesman Eric Van Der Sypt said.

“Salah Abdeslam was not caught during the raids,” he added.

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Nineteen raids were carried out in various neighbourhoods in the capital including Molenbeek – a poor immigrant district where Adbeslam is from.

Police conducted three other raids in the industrial town of Charleroi, where there is an international airport.

No weapons or explosives were found in the raids, prosecutors said.

A judge will decide on Monday whether to continue detaining those arrested.

The prosecutor said it was not immediately clear if the person injured in the car, which was eventually stopped in the centre of Brussels, was linked to the Paris attacks case.

Armed police mounted searches in several parts of the capital and cordoned off areas close to the city’s main tourist attraction, the Renaissance Grand Place around the town hall.

Helicopters could be heard flying over Brussels.

A Belgian soldier stands guard as a police raid takes place around the Grand Place in Brussels. Photo: AAP

Possible targets were malls, shopping streets and public transport, Belgium’s prime minister Charles Michel said.

He said the government would boost police and army presence in the capital beyond already high levels.

The police had earlier called for a social media blackout during the operations so as not to give away officers’ movements.

“What we fear is an attack similar to the one in Paris, with several individuals who could possibly launch several attacks at the same time in multiple locations,” Mr Michel said earlier.

Mr Michel said the capital’s metro, universities and schools would be closed today.

He said Brussels would remain at level four, meaning an attack was imminent, as it has been since Saturday.

For the rest of the country, a threat level of three on a four-tier scale would remain in place.

Mr Michel said a new evaluation of the situation would be made on Monday afternoon and everything was being done to return the city to normal as quickly as possible.

Commuters trying to get to work on Monday were expected to suffer delays as a result of the metro closure, though some companies had already indicated on Sunday they were ready for staff to work from home.

-with agencies