Brussels shooting live: Swedes abroad warned of terror attacks after country becomes ‘target among jihadists’
Swedish PM said Monday night’s attack in Brussels was “aimed at Sweden and Swedish citizens”.
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Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson called on the European Union to bolster border controls and internal security after a gunman killed two Swedes in Brussels on Monday.
A 45-year-old Tunisian terror suspect opened fire and killed two Swedish football fans. He died on Tuesday after being shot by police in a cafe.
Footage shared online showed a man dressed in an orange jacket unloading several shots, using a large weapon. The bearded man was reportedly seen leaving the crime scene on a scooter.
After the shooting suspect Abdesalem Lassoued posted a video on Facebook about the killings, claiming he was a member of Islamic State (IS) and had killed “three Swedes so far”.
“All indications are that this is a terror attack aimed at Sweden and Swedish citizens only due to them being Swedish,” Kristersson told a news conference.
Sweden raised its terror alert to its second-highest level in August after Koran burnings and other acts in Sweden against Islam’s holiest text outraged Muslims and the government warned that the country had become a priority target among jihadists.
Sweden’s embassies urged nationals to exercise increased vigilance abroad while Swedes at home voiced concerns about safety.
We are pausing our updates for the night, you can read more of our coverage on the attack below:
Sweden’s PM issues warning to all nationals abroad after Brussels terror attack
Belgian prosecutors have said they cannot exclude the possibility the attack is related to the Israel-Hamas war
UK Nato delegation sends condolences to Brussels victims
The UK joint delegation to Nato has sent its “deepest condolences” to the families of victims killed in the Brussels terror attack.
“Everyone at UK Nato sends their deepest condolences to the families of the victims of last night’s terrorist attack in Brussels
“Our thoughts are with them and with our friends at Sweden Nato & Belgium Nato,” it wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Pictured: Police in Brussels
Terror suspect arrived in Italy in 2011, sources say
Italian sources said he had arrived in Italy’s Lampedusa island in 2011, moved later to Sweden, but was expelled from there and returned to Italy before his arrival in Belgium.
Van Quickenborne said it was difficult to expel illegal migrants because certain North African countries were unwilling to take them back.
The suspect fled the scene after the shooting as a football match between Belgium and Sweden was about to start, triggering a manhunt and prompting Belgium to raise the terrorism alert in its capital to its maximum level.
Ukraine stands with Sweden and Belgium against terrorism, Zelensky says
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine stands “firmly alongside” Sweden and Belgium against terrorism.
“Following yesterday’s attack in Brussels, my thoughts are with Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson, the Swedish people, and all those affected,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“I am also expressing solidarity with Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo and the Belgian people. Ukraine stands firmly alongside our Swedish and Belgian friends against terrorism.”
Pictured: The cafe suspect was shot dead in
Belgian police on Tuesday shot and killed a 45-year-old Tunisian suspected of killing two Swedish football fans in Brussels, Belgian media said.
Following an overnight manhunt, the suspect was found by authorities in a cafe in the Schaerbeek area of Brussel’s on Tuesday.
Local media reported he was shot in the chest and later died in hospital.
Sweden’s PM issues warning to all nationals abroad after Brussels terror attack
The killing of two Swedish citizens in an attack ahead of a football match in Brussels has shocked the country, although the government has been warning for months that Swedes were at greater risk since a recent string of public desecrations of the Quran holy book by a handful of anti-Islam activists.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Tuesday noted that the government in August had raised the terror alert to the second-highest level following threats against Sweden by Islamic extremists.
Belgian prosecutors have said they cannot exclude the possibility that Monday’s attack is related to the Israel-Hamas war.
Read more:
Sweden’s PM issues warning to all nationals abroad after Brussels terror attack
Belgian prosecutors have said they cannot exclude the possibility the attack is related to the Israel-Hamas war
No indication suspect was a terrorist, neighbours say
After an overnight manhunt, police fatally shot the suspect at a cafe in the Schaerbeek district of northern Brussels on Tuesday morning, a day after his deadly attack, which prosecutors are treating as an act of terrorism.
In a video claiming responsibility for the attack, he said he was a member of the Islamic State militant group and gave his name as Abdesalem Al Guilani. Authorities have not named the man but Belgian state broadcaster RTBF named him as Abdesalem Lassoued.
At the yellow-brick apartment block in Schaerbeek overlooking a small park where the suspect lived, uniformed police stood guard on Tuesday morning while investigators searched for evidence inside.
The suspect had lived with a partner and their daughter in an apartment one floor up from the ground floor, neighbours said. The partner worked in a women’s hair salon, according to one neighbour, who declined to be named.
“He was the sort of person you would say said hello to, but not much more. He kept himself to himself,” said one woman, standing opposite a door smashed in by police in the apartment above the suspect’s.
“He was polite, there was no indication that something like this might happen,” A male neighbour told Reuters.
Brussels gunman suspect was known to police but not on watchlist
A man suspected of shooting dead two Swedish football fans and wounding another in Brussels was a 45-year-old Tunisian who had an asylum application rejected in 2020 but continued to live in Belgium illegally, according to Belgian officials.
In 2016, a foreign police service passed on an unconfirmed report that the man had a “radicalised profile” and wanted to go to a war zone to wage jihad, Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne said.
But he said that there had been “no concrete indication” that the man had been radicalised in the time he was known to the Belgian security services, so he was not on any watchlist.
After his asylum application was denied in October 2020, Belgian authorities said he “disappeared from the radar”.
This year, Belgian authorities received a tip that the man had been convicted of terrorism in Tunisia but the information proved to be false as the man had only been convicted of common law offences, Van Quickenborne said.
Nevertheless, apparently out of an abundance of caution, security authorities had convened a meeting to discuss his case, the minister said.
The meeting had been due to take place on Tuesday - the day he was fatally shot by police.
Sweden and Belgium to mourn victims together
Belgium’s Prime Minister said Sweden and Belgium will commemorate the victims of Monday night’s attack together on Wednesday.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Alexander De Croo said: Sweden and Belgium mourn the victims of yesterday’s attack together.
“I have invited @SwedishPM to Brussels tomorrow to commemorate the victims and pay tribute to the police services.
“We wish the people of Sweden strength and courage to get through these difficult times.”
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