Police are hunting an ISIS-linked gunman after two people were killed near a football stadium in a suspected terror attack.
The victims – both wearing Swedish soccer jerseys – were killed moments before their team’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Belgium.
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Police cordoned off the area where the shooting took place in central BrusselsCredit: AP
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Police circle at the scene of the shootingCredit: Rex
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The shooter was wearing a fluorescent orange jacket
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A video appears to be online showing a man claiming responsibility for the attack
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Local media named the suspect as Abdesalem L, 45, of Tunisian origin
The alleged attacker – believed to be linked to ISIS – is still on the run hours after the 7pm terror attack about three miles from the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels.
Local media named the suspect as Abdesalem L, 45, of Tunisian origin.
Police in Belgium have launched a terror investigation following the shooting on Boulevard d’Ypres, and the city has raised its alert to the highest level.
In a video taken moments before the horror, the alleged attacker says he is part of the Islamic State terrorist group.
Speaking in Arabic, he claims responsibility for the shooting and describes what appears to be a terrorist manifesto.
Police sources told The Times that social media accounts linked to the suspect showed an interest in anti-Muslim conspiracy theories about Sweden.
Qurans have been burned in Sweden in recent months, leading to protests in Muslim countries.
A spokesman for the federal prosecutor’s office said: “The Swedish nationality of the victims is mentioned as a possible motivation for the act.”
The suspect also shared a message on Facebook that referred to the killing of Wade Al-Fayoume, a Palestinian boy who was killed in an anti-Muslim attack in the US.
Last night’s match was interrupted because of panic among the fans, who were barricaded inside the stadium.
By 11 p.m., the evacuation began, and the Belgian fans were the first to leave before the 700 Swedes present were escorted away by the police.
Pictures show tearful Swedish fans phoning relatives and taking off their jerseys as the Belgian Crisis Center says it plans to “see them safely” out.
Another video shared online shows the alleged attacker in a fluorescent orange jacket arriving on a moped just three miles from Heizel Stadium.
The alleged shooter then chases several people into the building while firing shots from an automatic rifle.
He is believed to have shot at the van first, and one victim died inside.
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A bullet hole in the van where one victim died
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Other weapons left at the scene
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Swedish fans at the King Baudouin StadiumCredit: AFP
Meanwhile, the third victim was rushed to the hospital.
No suspect has yet been arrested.
Police are now urgently looking for the attacker, and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo asked citizens to be “vigilant”.
He said: “My deepest condolences to the relatives of the cowardly assassination attempt in Brussels
“I am following the events together with the ministers of justice and the interior from the national crisis center
“We are monitoring the situation and would like to ask the residents of Brussels to be vigilant.”
RAISED THREAT OF TERROR
Security services and ministers are currently gathered in the Crisis Center.
The terror threat level for the Brussels capital region has been raised to level 4 – with officials telling local residents to “avoid unnecessary movement”.
Regions are placed under level four “when the threat is serious and very imminent”.
Photos show a smaller gun left at the scene.
One witness told HBVL: “Soon a crowd formed, including the police.
“I saw the victim less than five meters away from me. A man about 40 years old.
“And then a black Mercedes Vito with two or three bullet holes.
“The driver was dead. The injured passenger, half of his body was covered in blood, but conscious.”
It comes as Sweden played Belgium tonight in a Euro qualifier.
The nearby stadium has a capacity for 50,000 fans.
Belgium has suffered a series of terrorist attacks in recent years – all linked to Islamist extremist groups such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda.
Eight men have just gone on trial for their connection to the 2016 suicide bombings that killed 32 people and wounded hundreds at Brussels airport and a metro station.
In September, a court in Brussels sentenced eight men to life in prison for the bombings.
French national Salah Abdeslam and Belgian-Moroccan Mohamed Abrini – already sentenced to life in prison by France for the November 2015 massacre in Paris – were the most prominent of the six defendants found guilty of murder in July.
Abrini, who was one of the planned bombers but decided at the last moment not to blow himself up, was given 30 years in prison.
The court decided not to give Abdeslam an additional sentence after he was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Belgium in 2018 for the shooting.
The attacks – near NATO and EU headquarters – were part of a wave of attacks claimed by the Islamic State group in Europe.
A spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office said an investigation into Monday night’s attack is open.
A police spokeswoman confirmed that two people were killed in the shooting near the center of the Belgian capital, but declined to give further details.
A UEFA spokesman said: “Following a suspected terrorist attack in Brussels tonight, it has been decided, after consultation with the two teams and the local police authorities, to abandon the UEFA EURO 2024 qualifier between Belgium and Sweden. Further communication bit will be interrupted. will be made in due course.”
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Fans were seen calling terrified relativesCredit: AFP
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Blegium fans run from the stadium after the break Credit: Rex
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Source: HIS Education