Man Shouting “Allahu Akbar” Kills Two In Brussels
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BRUSSELS (Worthy News) – A gunman shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“Allah is Greatest”) shot at bystanders and killed at least two people in Brussels late Monday, sources said.
The shooting in Belgium’s capital, which hosts the headquarters of the European Union and NATO military alliance, comes as Europe is on high alert for possible acts of terrorism after Hamas militants attacked Israel.
The alleged attacker was still at large, according to prosecutors. The victims were two Swedish nationals, police said. A spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office said an investigation had been opened but declined to mention the gunman’s possible motive.
Video recorded by residents and verified by Worthy News shows a gunman in a fluo-orange coat and a white helmet arriving on a scooter.
He then steps off that scooter and fires several shots at standers. When several people flee into an apartment building, he follows them and reopens fire in the entrance hall, the footage reveals.
One victim who wants to flee outside falls down. The shooter then goes to the appartement building’s exit but returns and shoots once more at the victim, who is already on the ground, Worthy News saw. Other images show the man getting on his scooter again and driving away.
ISLAMIC TERROR?
Worthy News couldn’t immediately establish independently whether the man shouted “Allahu Akbar” during his attacks as had been reported.
But in a video circulating on social media, a man in a similar coat as the gunmen declares in Arabic that he has just shot “three Swedes“ and acted “out of revenge.”
He also says he is a member of the Islamic State terror group.
It wasn’t immediately clear to what extent those images were authentic.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden, and Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne rushed to the National Crisis Centre to follow the situation, Belgian media reported.
Brussels mayor Philippe Close said he is “mobilizing the police services to ensure security in Brussels” in collaboration with Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden (CD&V).
It came a Belgium’s qualifying match against Sweden for the European Football Championship was underway in Brussels’s King Baudouin Stadium, but it was unclear whether there was a link to the shooting
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