Europe hit again by terrorism. Gérald Darmanin gave instructions on Monday evening to strengthen controls at the border with Belgium, where a man, currently on the run, killed two people with a firearm in Brussels, we learned from the Ministry of Defense. ‘Interior Monday.
Early Monday evening, two people of Swedish nationality were killed in the northern districts of the Belgian capital by an armed man who fled on a scooter. The Belgian federal prosecutor’s office responsible for terrorism cases was seized of the investigation.
“The fight against terrorism”
The French government activated the attack emergency level of the Vigipirate system, the highest, on Friday following the murder of a teacher stabbed by a radicalized former student in a high school in Arras, in the north of France. The attacker, a 20-year-old man born in the predominantly Muslim Russian Republic of Ingushetia, was arrested and is currently in police custody.
The fleeing attacker
In Brussels, Monday evening, a video claiming responsibility for the double murder, in which a man speaks in Arabic, was circulating on social networks, according to a source close to the case. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo denounced the “horrible attack” targeting Swedish citizens and called for unity in “the fight against terrorism”.
A Belgium-Sweden match, counting for qualification for Euro-2024, was held at the King Baudouin stadium in Brussels on Monday evening and had to be interrupted at half-time, UEFA announced.
According to a video posted on the website of the Flemish newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws, the shooter in a fluorescent orange jacket who was riding a scooter fled after using an automatic weapon which he shouldered to fire at least four shots.
The events occurred near Place Sainctelette, in the northern districts of the Belgian capital.