Two Swedish citizens were tragically murdered in a shooting attack in the center of Brussels on Monday evening. According to reports, the attacker shouted "Allahu Akbar" and claimed to be a member of ISIS. The shooting occurred amidst heightened security concerns in Western Europe due to fears of Islamist attacks related to the conflict between Israel and Hamas. It's also possible that this attack was in retaliation for recent Quran burning incidents in Sweden.
Following the attack, Belgium raised its terror alert level to the highest level, level 4. Eyewitnesses reported that the attacker not only shouted "Allahu Akbar" but also claimed this act was in revenge for the killing of a six-year-old Palestinian boy in the U.S. as a response to a previous Hamas attack on Israel.
Why are the media downplaying radical Islamists terrorists attacks? He admitted on a video gone viral but the media still describe it as “possible”
— Sarai (Sarah Idan) Miss Iraq (@RealSarahIdan) October 17, 2023
Pray for #Brussels #BrusselsTerrorAttack #Belgium pic.twitter.com/5Lt6Hqm8zS
The shooting took place approximately five kilometers from Heysel Stadium, where a football match between the Belgian and Swedish national teams was being held as part of the European Championship qualifiers. The victims were reportedly wearing Swedish national team shirts, suggesting they were fans. The game was halted after news of the attack. The two victims were initially shot in a taxi, and the attacker subsequently shot another person in the lobby of a nearby building.
A video posted online from the scene of the attack shows the assailant, wearing an orange jacket and a white baseball cap, chasing another man into a building and firing a large rifle at him. The reports suggest that this weapon was automatic. After the shooting, the attacker managed to escape but later uploaded videos on social networks in which he claimed responsibility for killing three people in an act of revenge. He expressed extremist views, stating, "We live and die for our religion."
The gunman is still at large in #Brussels, #Belgium. So far, at least 5 civilians are killed and at least 8 people injured
— Banrakas Baba (@BanrakasBaba) October 17, 2023
Pray for #Bruxelles #Belgium #belgique #Brussels #terrorism #BrusselsAttack pic.twitter.com/B1dUdABXEj
The attacker identified himself as "Abd al-Salam al-Guilani" and claimed to be a fighter for Allah from the Islamic State (ISIS). He stated that he had killed three Swedes and expressed his intentions to seek revenge in the name of Muslims. Eventually, authorities apprehended the terrorist after he was shot during the incident.
Belgium has a large Muslim community, and the Molenbeek neighborhood in the capital Brussels was considered one of the terrorist capitals of Europe in the middle of the previous decade. Among others, the terrorists who carried out the terrorist attack in Paris in 2015 where more than 130 people were murdered came from there. In 2016, Belgium suffered a murderous terrorist attack at Brussels airport, in which 11 people were killed and 35 injured.
