Two dead in Belgium
Deadly shots in Brussels: Authorities suspect connection to Koran burnings in Sweden
Police and inspectors in the center of Brussels where a man shot two Swedes on Monday evening took place
© Nicolas Landemard / AP / DPA
A man shoots two Swedish football fans in Brussels. The perpetrator is on the run, the authorities are on his trail – and already have a guess as to what is behind the incident.
The highest level of terror was declared for the Belgian capital on Monday evening. The federal public prosecutor’s office took over the investigation because of a “potentially terrorist motive.” Some media reported that the shooting could have an Islamist background.
According to the Belga news agency, the man got off an armed scooter in the north of the city center early on Monday evening 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.
Two Swedes shot dead in Brussels
The fatalities are two Swedes. According to the public prosecutor’s office, a third victim, a taxi driver, is now out of danger.
The two Swedes died around five kilometers away from the Brussels football stadium, where the national teams of Belgium and Sweden were playing against each other in a European Championship qualifier. The game was canceled. The news of the deaths of the two Swedes spread during half-time. According to the Swedish TV channel SVT, the Swedish national team players then decided not to continue the game. The Belgian national players would have joined in. For safety reasons, several thousand people initially had to stay in the Brussels football stadium until they could be evacuated.
The Swedish nationality of the victims could be a motivation for the crime, the Belgian news agency Belga quoted a spokesman for the federal prosecutor’s office as saying.
It is not the first time that people have fallen victim to an attack in Brussels. The trial of the 2016 Brussels terrorist attacks only ended around four weeks ago. Three suicide bombers from the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS) detonated bombs at Brussels’ Zaventem airport and in a subway station in the heart of the Belgian capital. They killed over 30 people and injured 340. The bereaved were also stunned by media reports at the time that several of the defendants had been monitored by the Belgian security authorities before the attacks – and were still able to carry out their bloody deeds later.
Authorities: Swedish nationality as motivation
According to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, a post by a person who posed as the attacker and claimed to be inspired by the terrorist organization Islamic State was shared on social networks. A video is also being shared online that is supposed to show the crime.
The Belga news agency quoted a spokesman for the federal prosecutor’s office as saying that the victims’ Swedish nationality could also be a motivation for the crime. This year, people in Sweden and later also in Denmark burned copies of the Koran several times, triggering angry reactions among Muslims. All this caused diplomatic trouble for the Scandinavian countries.
The authorities did not establish a connection between the attack and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson called on his compatriots in Belgium to be cautious and vigilant. De Croo expressed his sincere condolences to Kristersson: “As close partners, the fight against terrorism is a common fight.” However, the spokesman for the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office made it clear that there was so far no connection between the attack and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Von der Leyen: “Cowardly attack”
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 The Belgian Royal Palace was “shocked” and expressed its “support for the security forces who are doing everything they can to catch the perpetrator of the crimes,” it said on X.
The Council of Muslims in Belgium condemned the attack. He called on the authorities “to exercise the utmost determination to protect our national community and shed light on the issue as quickly as possible.”