2023-10-16 21:08:36
Abroad Highest terror alert level
Two dead following shots fired in Brussels – European Championship qualifier canceled
As of: 11:19 p.m. | Reading time: 2 minutes
A police officer at the crime scene in the center of Brussels
What: REUTERS
Terror alarm in Brussels: Two Swedes were shot dead in the center of the Belgian capital on Monday evening. The attacker is still on the run. According to media reports, the suspect confessed to IS in a video. The European Championship qualifier between Belgium and Sweden was canceled.
Two people were shot dead in Brussels on Monday evening. The investigation is ongoing, a police spokeswoman said in the evening. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo called on Brussels residents to be vigilant. According to him, the fatalities were Swedish. The investigation was handed over to the federal public prosecutor’s office responsible for terrorism.
Prime Minister De Croo said he had expressed his sincere condolences to the Swedish prime minister: “As close partners, the fight once morest terrorism is a common fight.”
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The Swedish national football team played in Brussels that evening for the European Championship qualifier once morest Belgium. The game was canceled following the first half. Spectators in the stadium were asked to remain in their seats. “The Belgian police want Swedish fans to stay in the arena for security reasons,” the association wrote.
Police officers in front of the King Baudouin Stadium, where the Belgian national team’s game once morest Sweden took place
What: REUTERS
After reports of the deaths of the two Swedes spread, the Swedish national players decided not to continue the game, according to the Swedish TV channel SVT. The Belgian national players would have joined in.
The authorities raised the terror alert level in the Belgian capital to the maximum level of four, and the second highest level applies in the rest of the country.
Video supposedly shows attackers
According to Belgian media reports The crime scene is near Place Sainctelette. Footage from an eyewitness showed a man wearing an orange jacket and a white headgear. The attacker arrived on a motor scooter, got off and fired several shots from a long gun. People fled into a building and were chased by the man.
Belgian media such as “The Brussels Times“ report that the suspect published a video on social networks in which he claimed support for the so-called Islamic State (IS) and spoke of “killing infidels” and “avenging Muslims.” The police did not initially confirm the information.
The crime scene was cordoned off
Source: AFP/HATIM KAGHAT
Forensics in Brussels
Quelle: AFP/KENZO TRIBOUILLARD
Police spokeswoman Ilse Vande Keere said police officers were at the scene shortly following the shooting and cordoned off the area in the city center. She declined to provide further details.
France wants to tighten border controls
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke of a “cowardly attack” and expressed her condolences to the people of Sweden. Belgian EU Council President Charles Michel wrote on X: “The heart of Europe is being hit by violence. My condolences go out to the families of the victims of the deadly attack in the center of Brussels.”
France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced that he wanted to tighten border controls with neighboring Belgium. On Friday, a French teacher was killed by a radicalized former student at a school in northern France.
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