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2 shot dead in Brussels ‘terrorist attack’ with suspect on the run
Swedish citizens were killed near city center in ‘harrowing attack,’ says Belgian prime minister.Police said gunshots were fired near Place Sainctelette and Boulevard du Neuvième de Ligne shortly after 7 p.m. | Hatim Kaghat/Belga Mag/AFP via Getty Images
BY CLAUDIA CHIAPPA, NICOLAS CAMUT, ELISA BRAUN AND PIETER HAECK
OCTOBER 16, 2023 9:10 PM CET
4 MINUTES READ
BRUSSELS — A shooter killed two people near the center of Brussels on Monday evening, in what senior Belgian officials have condemned as a “terrorist attack.”
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said that he had passed on condolences to his Swedish counterpart “following tonight’s harrowing attack on Swedish citizens.”
Police said a suspect fired gunshots near Place Sainctelette and Boulevard du Neuvième de Ligne shortly after 7 p.m. and patrols were immediately dispatched to the scene. A third person was also injured by gunfire. The shooter remains at large.
Two people were confirmed dead, said Brussels police spokesperson Ilse Van de Keere. “The investigation is ongoing,” she added.
Sweden was playing Belgium in a football match at the national stadium in northern Brussels, with hundreds of supporters following their team. The game has now been abandoned. Sweden has been on the front line of blowback from hard-line Islamists, due to repeated Quran burnings — including a spate this summer which led Stockholm to increase the country’s security threat level.
Late Monday night, Eric van Duyse, spokesperson for the federal prosecutor’s office, said on Belgian TV: “During the evening, a statement was posted on social networks and recorded by a person claiming to be the assailant. He claimed to be inspired by the Islamic State [ISIS].
“In the same statement, the victims’ Swedish nationality was mentioned as a probable motive for the act. At this stage, there is no evidence of any connection with the Israeli-Palestinian situation,” van Duyse added, referring to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
A third person, a cab driver, was also injured and is now out of danger, van Duyse said. He added that the shooter was still on the run.
Sweden-Belgium football match abandoned
Brussels raised its terror threat level to four, the maximum on the scale, according to the Belgian National Crisis Center. The organization asked people to avoid unnecessary travel and show “increased vigilance.”De Croo added: “My deepest condolences to the relatives of this cowardly attack in Brussels. We are monitoring the situation and ask the people of Brussels to be vigilant.”
Belgian’s Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib said she was “horrified” by the “terrorist attack,” adding, “All necessary means must be mobilized to combat radicalism.”
In a statement regarding the game, European football’s governing body, UEFA, said, “Following a suspected terrorist attack in Brussels this evening, it has been decided, after consultation with the two teams and the local police authorities, that the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying match between Belgium and Sweden is abandoned.”
Full article here: https://www.politico.eu/article/shooter-kills-two-people-in-central-brussels/
