Belgian authorities lowered the terror alert level again this Tuesday, hours after the suspected terrorist who shot two people and injured a third, all Swedish nationals, in the center of Brussels on Monday evening was shot dead by police. The suspect of the jihadist attack, Abdesalem L., a 45-year-old Tunisian in an irregular situation, had been seriously injured by a shot when the agents went to a café in the Brussels municipality of Schaerbeek early in the morning, alerted to the presence of a person associated with the The identity of the attacker, who said in a video broadcast on social networks that he was acting on behalf of the extremist group Islamic State to “avenge Muslims”. His death was confirmed shortly afterwards at a city hospital.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo announced at a press conference that Brussels is lowering the maximum terrorist threat level, set last night from 4 (“serious and imminent” threat), to 3 “serious” threat,” like the rest of the country already was. The decision came after the government held an assessment meeting on Tuesday afternoon and concluded that the terrorist acted alone and had no support network behind him. “There is no indication that there could be multiple authors. “We are therefore maintaining level 3 for the entire country,” explained the head of government. “Surveillance must continue to be the norm and there will be police checks,” he added.
“A Weapon of War” appears
“The perpetrator of the terrorist attack in Brussels has been identified and has died,” Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden had announced hours earlier, thanking the security services and the public prosecutor’s office in a message on social networks for their “quick and decisive” intervention both on the night of the attack as well as the morning operation in which the terrorist was killed very close to where he had lived in recent years. Federal prosecutors have said that “a weapon of war and a bag of clothing” were found in the cafe where the suspect, who died at 9:38 a.m. in a hospital in the capital, was killed. It is believed to be the same automatic rifle used in Monday night’s attack on a central Brussels street, which De Croo described as “terrorist madness”.
Initial suspicions that the terrorist had an accomplice led to operations continuing throughout the day on Tuesday, with two people questioned over their “possible contact” with the main suspect and four searches carried out, said Prosecutor General Fréderic van Leeuw. “The lone wolf theory seems to be closest to reality,” he suggested.
“The terrorist attack was committed with complete cowardice,” De Croo had denounced in a dawn press conference after spending the entire night at the Belgian National Crisis Center meeting, among others, his interior and justice ministers. “It was aimed at Swedish fans going to a Red Devils game. [la selección belga] against the Swedish national team,” he explained.
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Apart from the fact that there is unanimous talk of a terrorist attack and that the public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into this, the reasons for this remain completely unclear. The spokesman for the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, Eric Van Duyse, said yesterday evening that there was initially no connection with the conflict in the Middle East. The fact that the attacker was looking for Swedish victims, fans who were preparing to attend the Belgium-Sweden match played in Brussels on Monday evening and was eventually banned, suggests that the attack was linked to the burning of copies of the Game-related Koran in Sweden in recent months, a fact that has provoked outrage and threats of reprisals and attacks. The Belgian attack came just days after a high school teacher was stabbed in Arras, northern France. This attack has also increased the terror warning in the neighboring country and last night also increased surveillance on the border with France and Belgium.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson called for more security and better border controls in the EU at a press conference in Stockholm this Tuesday. “This is a moment for greater security, we cannot be naive,” he said, as reported by Portal. The Swedish head of government will travel to Brussels this Wednesday to join De Croo in a tribute to the victims of the attack, all Swedish fans who were preparing to attend the Belgium-Sweden match in the Belgian capital.
The attack happened shortly after 7 p.m. on Monday in the center of Brussels. According to multiple cameras, the attacker, dressed in a distinctive orange jacket, got off a motorcycle on a busy street and began firing with an automatic rifle. According to some versions, he shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) during the shooting. Several people fled at the entrance to a building. The terrorist followed them and shot a man lying on the ground at close range. After getting back on the road, he shot at a vehicle again before calmly driving away on his motorcycle and disappearing, sparking a frantic search that ended 14 hours later in a police operation in which he, too, ultimately died .
In his wake, two Swedish citizens died and a third was seriously injured, although his life is not in danger. The 35,000 fans who had come to the King Baudouin Stadium to watch the match between Belgium and Sweden had to wait in the stadium for hours until they were evacuated after midnight under strict security measures. According to the Belgian press, Swedish fans were escorted by police to their hotels or the airport.
“Muslims take revenge”
In a video shared on social networks, the attacker said in Arabic that he had acted on behalf of the Islamic State and wanted to “avenge Muslims” with his act. The authorities have confirmed that this is a man of Tunisian origin who was in an irregular situation in Belgium. The suspect was known to the police for human trafficking, illegal trade and attacks on state security. His asylum application was rejected in 2019, after which his trace was lost. According to Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne, a foreign police service warned in 2016 that Abdesalem L. had a radicalized profile, but he stated that it was a warning “since there were dozens every day at the time.”
In his message to citizens, De Croo, who expressed his condolences to the Swedish government that night, called for the “unity” of the population to be maintained. “This attack affects us all, terrorism attacks blindly, it seeks to sow fear, mistrust and division in our free societies,” he said in his press conference. “Terrorists must know that they will never achieve their goal, they will never subdue us, terrorism will never win,” he added, while also appealing to citizens: “Belgium is a solid country where citizens in “Let us maintain this attitude and remain united in the face of this terrible attack.”
That night, the police, who had searched the streets of Schaerbeek for hours, found another weapon in a park, according to the Belgian press. The entire area was cordoned off by police and residents were asked to stay in their homes for the time being. Brussels has risen from terrorist threat level 2 to the highest level 4, implying a “serious and imminent” threat. The rest of the country is at level 3, a “severe” threat. While Flemish schools and those affiliated with the European institutions in Brussels remained closed this Tuesday, French-speaking schools and universities decided to maintain classes.
Both the Council and the European Commission have recommended that their employees work from home on this day. Most of the European Parliament’s staff are in Strasbourg, where the chamber’s plenary session is taking place this week.
According to the newspaper Le Soir, the eight branches of the Swedish furniture retailer Ikea have opened in Belgium, but under increased surveillance. For her part, the Interior Minister pointed out that surveillance of the Swedish diplomatic missions in Belgium and other interests of this country has been increased.
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