Two Swedish nationals were shot dead in Brussels late Monday by a suspect who remains at large, in an attack the Belgian prime minister described as “terrorism”.
The gunman fled on a scooter and Belgium’s security observatory raised its terror alert to level four or “very serious” — the highest — for Brussels, and level three nationally.
Belgium’s premier, Alexander De Croo, said the shooting had targeted Swedes — the attack came just before a Belgium-Sweden soccer match — and European leaders were quick to offer their solidarity. Sweden expressed its devastation.
In a video posted on social media, a man identifying himself as the attacker said “he was inspired by the Islamic State” (IS) extremist group, the spokesman for the federal prosecutor’s office, Eric Van Duyse, said on the LN24 news channel.
Several Belgian media named the suspect as Abdesalem L, aged 45 of Tunisian origin who lived in Brussels.
De Croo said he had “offered my sincere condolences to the Swedish PM following tonight’s harrowing attack on Swedish citizens in Brussels” in a social media post.
“Our thoughts are with the families and friends who lost their loved ones. As close partners the fight against terrorism is a joint one.”
Several Belgian media outlets said the two individuals killed were wearing football shirts belonging to the Swedish national team ahead of the game between Sweden and Belgium.
The Group F European qualifier match between the two countries was suspended at half-time “due to incidents,” the Belgian side posted on social media accounts.
Around 35,000 fans attended the match and police began to evacuate the stadium.
Officers provided extra protection for Swedish nationals at the game, escorting Sweden’s national players directly to the airport to leave safely, Belgium’s football association CEO told the country’s RTBF channel.
The UEFA website said the match had been halted at half-time at one goal apiece.
A third individual had been hurt in the attack but officials said the person was not in a critical condition.
AFP