Belgian Police Kill Suspected Islamist Gunman; ‘Attack Possible Linked To Gaza Conflict’
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BRUSSELS (Worthy News) – Belgian authorities say police shot the Islamist gunman who killed at least two Swedish nationals in Brussels late Monday. The public prosecutor’s office no longer excludes “a possible link with the conflict in Gaza,” referencing Israel’s declared war against Hamas militants.
The attack came as Europe was on high alert after Hamas called for a “day of rage,” including in Brussels, the Belgian capital hosting the headquarters of the European Union and NATO military alliance.
The alleged gunman, identified as 45-year-old Abdesalem L. from Tunisia, was shot early Tuesday in a cafe in the municipality of Schaerbeek in the Brussels region, officials said. He later passed away despite receiving medical treatment, according to prosecutors.
Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden said the man was suspected of being the gunman. “The weapon with which the attacks were committed has been found this morning where the man was apprehended in Schaerbeek. That makes the likelihood of the perpetrator being caught bigger,” Verlinden told Belgian media. “We are checking fingerprints to be 100 percent sure.”
She said the man was in intensive care in hospital, where he later died. Security services were still searching for a second suspect, according to authorities.
L. allegedly used the discovered gun to shoot and kill two Swedes and wounding a third. Belgian media said the victims, all Swedish or of Swedish descent, were in Brussels for the European Championship match between Sweden and Belgium.
The game in Brussels’s King Baudouin Stadium was was stopped at halftime due to the fatal shooting.
ISLAMIC WORDS
It came after a gunman shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“Allah is Greatest”) shot at bystanders and killed the two people in Brussels late Monday, sources said.
Video recorded by residents and verified by Worthy News showed a gunman in a fluorescent orange jacket and a white helmet arriving on a scooter. He could be seen stepping off that scooter and firing several shots at bystanders.
When several people fled into an apartment building, he followed them and reopened fire in the entrance hall, the gruesome footage revealed.
One victim who wanted to flee outside fell down. The shooter went to the apartment building’s exit but returned to shoot once more at the victim, who was already on the ground, Worthy News saw. Other images showed the man getting on his scooter again and driving away.
In another video on social media, a man in a similar coat as the gunmen declared in Arabic that he had just shot “three Swedes“ and acted “out of revenge. He also said he is a member of the Islamic State terror group. It wasn’t immediately clear to what extent those images were authentic.
Following the incident, Belgian police reportedly stepped up their presence around hotels with Swedish soccer (football) fans as well as Swedish diplomatic posts and other Swedish community sites, officials said.
Schaarbeek, where the suspect was already notorious for violence caused by at least some Islamic migrants and drug addicts, according to residents. Local police and residents had asked in the last for increased security measures in the area.
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