The alleged perpetrator of the attack that yesterday cost the lives of two Swedish nationals has been neutralized with a police shot in a cafe in Brussels, according to Belgian television VTR. The operation took place in the Schaerbeek neighborhood, where the suspect, a man of Tunisian origin in an irregular situation in Belgium, is believed to have lived. The Minister of the Interior, Annelies Verlinden, has just confirmed that the person killed was indeed the man wanted by Belgian law enforcement forces. "He would have died on the way to the hospital but that still needs to be confirmed one hundred percent."
"Terrorism strikes blindly, it wants to sow fear, mistrust and division in our free society. But terrorists must know that they will not break us. They will not defeat us. Belgium is a solid country where citizens live in peace and Peace is the antidote to terror", were the morning words of the Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander de Croo, who appeared before the press from the bunker of the crisis management center of the Belgian federal Government, accompanied by the Ministers of the Interior and Justice. .
The suspect, as explained by the Federal Prosecutor's Office, is a 45-year-old man of Tunisian nationality, Abdesalem L., who requested asylum in Belgium in 2019. He was known to the security services for his jihadist profile and was currently in a situation irregular in the country. The events occurred yesterday at a quarter past seven in the afternoon in the vicinity of the Saincteclette square, in the center of Brussels, shortly before the football match between the Belgian and Swedish national teams.
The attacker, armed with a rifle, "chased some Swedish sympathizers when they got out of a taxi and then chased them into the lobby of a building," explained the attorney general, Frédéric Van Leeuw. Immediately afterwards, the shooter, who was wearing an orange reflective vest and a white helmet, fled on a motorcycle before the police arrived at the scene. "The information we have today indicates that the attack is linked to Swedish targets. It is possible that [the man] has ties to Sweden," said the Belgian Interior Minister, who has been in contact since last night with her counterpart in the country. Scandinavian. Verlinden has not been able to specify whether the incident would be related to the recent burning of Koran books in the streets of Sweden.
The soccer match between Belgium and Sweden, qualifying for the Euro Cup, was suspended last night during the break by mutual agreement between the teams of both countries, after the Nordic team found out what happened. Police asked attendees not to move from their seats while they organized the evacuation of the stadium in an orderly manner. The Swedish supporters were escorted out by police. The shooting resulted in two fatalities (one of the two also had a Swiss identity card) and a third injured person, also a native of the Scandinavian country.
The Belgian Prosecutor's Office is investigating the possible terrorist motivation for the attack. In a video spread on social media and recorded supposedly after the shooting, the alleged perpetrator claims membership in the Islamic State terrorist group and boasts of having murdered several infidels "to avenge Muslims and those who live and die for their religion." ", according to the Arabic translation published by the Belgian press. Last night, searches were carried out in 20 homes in an apartment block in the Schaerbeek neighborhood, in homes where it was suspected that the assailant could be hiding.
"The suspect had requested asylum in our country in 2019. He is known to be suspected of human trafficking, illegal stay and attacks on state security," explained Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne. Belgium rejected his asylum application in 2020 and shortly after he disappeared, so the expulsion order issued in 2021 could not be carried out. "He has never spent the night in a Fedasil asylum center. He had never been detained by the police and presented to the foreigners' office to allow the return" to Tunisia, said Nicole de Moor, Secretary of State for Immigration.
The declaration of maximum terrorist alert in the Brussels-Capital region (level 4 indicates that the threat of an attack is serious and imminent) has made the residents of the capital relive the situation experienced after the Paris attacks in November 2015, when one of the perpetrators, Saddam Abdeslam, fled to Belgium and the capital decreed confinement for five days. This time, the decision was made to reinforce the police presence on the streets of the capital but not to close most of the schools, unlike what happened then. "According to the analysis of the OCAM (Coordination and Threat Analysis Body) there is no specific threat against schools," explained De Croo. The schools of the French-speaking community, the majority in the city, have followed the advice of the authorities while the private centers linked to the network of European schools, as well as the Flemish ones, have, however, chosen to close their doors today. The National Security Council will meet again at three in the afternoon to evaluate the situation.
