Belgian authorities shoot dead suspect accused of killing 2 Swedes in Brussels

Police in Belgium on Tuesday shot dead a suspected Tunisian extremist accused of killing two Swedish soccer fans in a brazen shooting on a Brussels street before disappearing into the night, reported The Associated Press. Hours after a manhunt began in the Belgian capital, Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden told broadcaster VRT: “We have the good news that we found the individual.” She said that the weapon believed to have been used in the shooting was recovered. Videos posted on social media of Monday’s attack showed a man wearing an orange fluorescent vest pull up on a scooter, take out a large weapon and open fire on passersby before chasing them into a building to gun them down, reported AP.

Prime Minister Alexander de Croo earlier said the suspect was a man of Tunisian origin who had been living in the country illegally. “The terrorist attack that happened yesterday was committed with total cowardice, the attacker chose as a target two Swedish football fans,” de Croo told a news conference, adding that a third person was seriously wounded. Sweden expressed its devastation over the shooting – which occurred just before a Belgium-Sweden football match Monday evening – and European leaders were quick to offer their solidarity. Sweden has been at the centre of a bitter row this year with Muslim countries after multiple burnings of the Koran, Islam’s holy book. In a video posted in Arabic on social media, a man identifying himself as the attacker said “he was inspired by the Islamic State” (IS) extremist group, prosecutors said, according to AFP. The gunman wearing a hi-visibility orange jacket fled on a scooter and Belgian authorities raised the terror alert for Brussels to level four or “very serious” – the highest – and level three nationally. Several Belgian media named the suspect as Abdesalem L, aged 45. Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborn said the asylum seeker was convicted in Tunisia “for common law offences”, but was not reported for a terrorist risk. Prosecutors said the attacker in his video had indicated the Swedish nationality of his victims was a motivation, but there appeared to be no links with the conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East. “Devastated by the news of two Swedish football supporters murdered in Brussels tonight and a third person being seriously wounded. All my thoughts are with their families and loved ones,” Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said. “Swedish authorities work closely with their Belgian partners to find the murderer,” he added on social media.