2023-10-16 21:52:30
After fatal shots at two Swedes in Brussels, the highest terror alert level has been declared in the Belgian capital. Police confirmed on Monday evening that two people had been shot near the city center. The perpetrator is still being sought, wrote Belgian Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden on Twitter (X). The European Championship qualifier between Sweden and Belgium was canceled following the first half when the score was 1-1.
Prime Minister Alexander De Croo wrote on Twitter (X) that the victims were Swedish citizens. He called on Brussels residents to be vigilant. The EU Commission asked its employees not to go out on the streets but to stay indoors.
The crime occurred shortly following 7 p.m. near Place Sainctelette in the north of the Belgian capital, immediately before a European Championship qualifier at the King Badouin Stadium in Brussels. According to several media reports, the victims were Swedish fans.
According to the Belgian public prosecutor’s office, there is currently no evidence that there is a connection between the attack in Brussels and the Gaza conflict. The attacker specifically targeted Swedish citizens. There was also one injured person in the shooting. The investigation was handed over to the federal public prosecutor’s office responsible for terrorism.
Investigators said that a confessional video in which a man spoke in Arabic was circulating online. In another video published on the website of the Flemish newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws, the suspected shooter, wearing an orange neon jacket, can be seen shouldering an automatic weapon and driving away on a scooter. At least four shots can be heard at the same time. Unconfirmed footage of a man describing himself as a member of ISIS and saying he killed three Swedes has been shared on social media.
The investigation was still ongoing, a police spokeswoman said in the evening. According to the Belga news agency, an armed man got off a scooter in the north of the city center and fired shots on the street. When several people fled into a house entrance, he is said to have chased them and shot them. The police did not initially confirm this information.
De Croo expressed his sincere condolences to Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson: “As close partners, the fight once morest terrorism is a common fight.” Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer spoke on Monday of “terrible news from Brussels”. Sweden raised its terror alert level to the second highest level in August following Koran burnings in Sweden outraged Muslims. The Swedish government condemned the burnings.
The Swedish national football team played in Brussels that evening for the European Championship qualifier once morest Belgium. The game was abandoned following the first half when the score was 1-1. The two football associations involved announced this on Monday evening on X. The spectators in the stadium, including around 700 Swedes, were asked to remain in their seats. “The Belgian police want Swedish fans to stay in the arena for security reasons,” the association wrote.
After media 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.
Verlinden, De Croo and Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne went to the National Crisis Center in the evening to monitor the situation more closely.
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
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni made similar comments. “Italy strongly condemns all forms of violence, fanaticism and terrorism and expresses its deepest sympathy to the victims and their families,” it said in a statement. Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) condemned the act “in the strongest possible terms”. “We stand side by side in the fight once morest terror and extremism,” emphasized Nehammer on X. Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) also condemned the attack.
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. Since then, the highest alert level has been in effect in the country.
Belgium has been the target of terrorist attacks several times in recent years. On March 22, 2016, three suicide bombers blew themselves up at the airport and in a subway station in the capital Brussels. 35 people were killed and almost 700 others were injured. IS claimed responsibility for the crimes.
In November 2022, also in Brussels, a man armed with a knife attacked two police officers, killing one of them and seriously injuring the other. The federal prosecutor’s office opened an investigation.
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