At least two people have died and several more have been injured by firearms in an incident that occurred shortly after 7:00 p.m. near Saintelette Square in Brussels.. A man, dressed in a bright orange jacket, opened fire “indiscriminately”, according to the Belgian press, in a busy area, near the Grand Place, ending the lives of both Swedish nationals.. In addition, there is a third person injured.
At this time, the Belgian Police are prioritizing the hypothesis that it is a terrorist attack because, in addition, the person involved has fled shouting “Alahu akbar!”. A search and capture device has been deployed after the man fled carrying a Kalashnikov and the Government has raised the terrorist alert to the maximum level, 4, which represents “a serious or imminent threat”. In addition, the authorities have asked citizens to avoid going out and not to make unnecessary trips, and on the other hand, France has reinforced controls on the border with Belgium.
“We live for our religion and we die for our religion,” he reportedly said before shooting, according to the newspaper Le Soir.. The event occurs precisely on the day that the Belgian and Swedish teams face each other in a qualifying match for the 2024 European Football Championship; The match was suspended at half-time.
The recording of the attack, published by a resident of the area, shows how a man with an orange reflective jacket and white helmet arrives on a motorcycle on a sidewalk, throws the vehicle and begins shooting from both sides.. Shortly after, he enters a glass building where you can see him shooting a person who immediately falls to the ground.
In another video, the alleged attacker appears in the foreground, identifies himself as Slayem Slouma and proclaims his membership in the Islamic State and boasts of having killed “three Swedes” whom he describes as “infidels.”. The very violent speech vindicates his action to “avenge the Muslims in the name of those of us who live and die for our religion.”. Slouma had previously published a message about the six-year-old Palestinian boy murdered this Sunday by a 71-year-old man in Chicago “for being Muslim”. If he had been a Christian “we would have called it terrorism and not a brutal crime,” he alleged.
The reactions have not been long in coming. The first, that of the Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander de Croo, who assured that he was following the situation “together with the Ministers of Justice and the Interior” and has offered full collaboration to the Swedish citizens displaced to the Belgian capital.. The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, spoke along the same lines: “The heart of Europe is struck by violence. My heart goes out to the families of the victims of the deadly attack in the center of Brussels. “My support to the Belgian authorities and the security services who are monitoring the situation.”
For her part, the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, has published that “terrorism and extremism cannot infiltrate our societies. People should feel safe. “Hate will not win”. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, reiterated “the union of all against terrorism.”