Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dadic announced this on Sunday on the state radio station RTS. It is “indisputable” that the men “belong to the extremist Wahhabi movement,” said Dadic. Wahhabism is an ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam that predominates in Saudi Arabia.
Police officers shot with crossbow
On Saturday, the attacker shot a Serbian police officer guarding the Israeli embassy in the neck with a crossbow. The officer was injured, but was able to draw his weapon and shoot the attacker. The police identified the man as a convert to Islam. The authorities spoke of a “targeted terrorist attack.”
Searches were carried out in several places in Serbia and dozens of people were questioned, said Interior Minister Dacic. The public prosecutor’s office will determine whether they are connected to the attack, he added. “What is indisputable about all these people is that they belong to the Wahhabi extremist movement.” The police have now tracked the attacker’s movements in Belgrade, where he arrived early on Saturday. The man went to a synagogue before the attack, but was deterred by the heavy police presence there, it was said. He then went to the Israeli embassy.
Israeli ambassador visits injured
Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz thanked the Serbian authorities for their “strong support and cooperation following the attempted terrorist attack.” The Israeli ambassador to Serbia, Yahel Vilan, visited the injured police officer in hospital on Sunday. The 34-year-old officer had a bolt removed from his neck during an operation. He is in a stable condition, a doctor said.
