2023 Brussels shooting

The 2023 Brussels shooting was an Islamist terrorist attack targeted at Swedish nationals and carried out on 16 October in Brussels, Belgium. At about 7:15 pm, Abdesalem Lassoued, a 45-year-old Tunisian living illegally in Belgium, opened fire on Swedish football supporters at the intersection of two boulevards just off the Square Sainctelette, leaving two dead and one injured. The victims were on their way to a football match at the King Baudouin Stadium.

2023 Brussels shooting
Part of Islamic terrorism in Europe and terrorist activity in Belgium
Temporary memorial for the Swedish football supporters on the site of the attack
LocationBrussels, Belgium
Coordinates50°51′29″N 4°20′47″E
Date16 October 2023 (2023-10-16)
19:15 CEST (UTC+2)
TargetSwedes
Attack type
Shooting
WeaponsAR-15–style rifle
Deaths3 (including the perpetrator)
Injured1
PerpetratorAbdesalem Lassoued[lower-alpha 1]

Lassoued fled the scene, and soon after a video was posted on social media in which he claimed responsibility for the attack on behalf of the Islamic State (IS). The Belgian federal prosecutor immediately concentrated its investigation on a terrorist motive. The following morning, Lassoued was tracked down to a café in the Schaerbeek municipality where he was shot by Belgian police and died on the way to hospital. Following the attack, the terror threat level for Brussels was raised from 2 to 4, the highest level. In the rest of Belgium, it was raised from level 2 to 3. After Lassoued's death, Brussels was lowered to level 3, the same as the rest of the country.

Four days after the attack, Belgian Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne resigned after it emerged that an extradition request by Tunisia for Lassoued in August 2022 had not been followed up by Belgian magistrates.

Background

The attack was the fifth fatal Islamist terrorist attack carried out in Belgium since 2014, previous attacks being: the Jewish Museum of Belgium shooting in 2014; the 2016 Brussels bombings; the 2018 Liège attack; the knife attack in Schaerbeek in 2022.[1] In addition there were two attacks in Brussels in which no victims died: a failed bombing in 2017, and a knife attack in 2017.[2][3]

The Islamic State terror cell which planned and carried out both the November 2015 Paris attacks and the 2016 Brussels bombings was based in Brussels.[4]

Attack
A view of the Square Sainctelette in Brussels. The attack took place outside and in the lobby of the glass-cladded building in the upper left-hand corner.

At about 7:15 pm on 16 October 2023, Lassoued opened fire on Swedish football supporters in a taxi at the junction of the Boulevard du Neuvième de Ligne and the Boulevard d'Ypres, just off the Square Sainctelette, in the City of Brussels. The supporters were on their way to the King Baudouin Stadium, about 5 km (3 mi) away, where the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifier between Belgium and Sweden was being played.[5][6][7] One victim was shot in the taxi, while the other was shot as he ran into the foyer of an office building. A third Swedish football supporter was also shot and was left in a serious, but not life-threatening, condition.[8][7][9][10] The gunman, who was wearing a fluorescent orange jacket, then fled the scene on a motorcycle.[11]

The football match, which had started at 8:45 pm, was called off at half-time as news of the attack spread. The Swedish players said they did not want to play the second half of the match and the Belgium team agreed.[12] The 35,000 spectators were held in the stadium before being evacuated a little before midnight, with the Swedish fans being the last to leave.[8] Swedish fans were reported to have removed their supporter's gear to avoid being identified as Swedish.[13] The Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs advised Swedes in Brussels to be vigilant.[14]

Soon after the attack a video of a man speaking Arabic and claiming responsibility for the shooting was circulating on social media.[11] The man said he was inspired by IS.[5] A spokesman for the Belgian federal prosecutor's office said that the investigation was concentrating on a terrorist motive, with Swedish nationals having been targeted, possibly on account of recent Quran-burnings in Sweden.[5] The attacker was identified as Lassoued.[15]

As a result of the attack, the terror threat level for Brussels was raised from 2 to 4, the highest level, and raised from 2 to 3, the second-highest level, in the rest of the country.[5]

Perpetrator's death

Police traced Lassoued to his address in Schaerbeek through the registration of his motorcycle. That evening two officers saw him sitting in a park opposite his flat (having been thrown out with a bag of belongings by his partner) but did not apprehend him.[16] The following morning, police received a tip-off that Lassoued was in a café close to where he lived. During the arrest, he was shot in the chest by police. Paramedics tried to resuscitate him and took him to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His death was confirmed by Belgian Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden on the social media platform X.[17] The weapon used in the attack (an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle) was found in his possession, as was his bag of belongings.[18][19] After his death, the terror threat level for Brussels was lowered to 3, the same as the rest of Belgium.[15]

Victims

The three victims were all Swedish football supporters who had travelled to Belgium to watch their national team play in the Euro 2024 qualifier. The two men who died were 60-year-old Patrick Lundström who lived in Switzerland, and 70-year-old Kent Persson who lived in Stockholm.[20][21] The injured victim was a man in his 70s.[7]

Investigation

Perpetrator's background

Abdesalem Lassoued (1 September 1978 – 17 October 2023) was sentenced in Tunisia in 2005 to more than 26 years in prison for crimes including attempted murder.[22] He escaped from prison in 2011 and entered Europe via Lampedusa, an Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea, making the journey on a small boat with other migrants.[22][15] In the decade after his arrival in Europe, he is known to have sought asylum in Belgium, Italy, Norway and Sweden, all of which rejected his claims.[23] Living under a false identity in Sweden he was arrested for drug-related offences in 2012 and was deported back to Italy after serving a two-year prison sentence.[24] From Italy, where he had been identified as radicalised, he travelled to Belgium and applied for asylum in 2019. His claim was rejected in 2020 and he remained in Belgium illegally, in spite of a request from Tunisia for his extradition.[15][23] He had been flagged by Belgian authorities for potential extremism and an unidentified foreign intelligence service had also issued a warning about him in 2016.[25] After having threatened another Tunisian man at an asylum centre, Lassoued had been due to be questioned by the Belgian authorities on 17 October (the day after the attack).[25][26]

After the death of Lassoued, the federal prosecutor told reporters that he was thought to have been acting as a lone wolf rather than as a member of a terrorist group.[27] Later on the evening of 17 October, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack through their Amaq News Agency.[28]

Motive

Belgian authorities said that the killer had targeted Swedish people, possibly in revenge for the 2023 Quran burnings in Sweden.[29][30] The victims were wearing Sweden men's national football team shirts when they were shot.[31] In a video released after the attack, the perpetrator claimed to have been inspired by IS.[12] Lassoued had followed an account on the social media application TikTok that spread conspiracy theories about Muslim children being kidnapped by the Swedish social authorities.[32]

Reactions

Aftermath

Two days after the attack, the Swedish and Belgian Prime Ministers attended a brief ceremony for the victims, laying wreaths at the site of the attack.[21] On 19 October UEFA announced that the European Championship qualifying game between Belgium and Sweden would not be replayed, with the 1-1 half-time score being treated as the final score. Both national football associations approved of the decision which did not have any impact on which teams qualified from Group F.[38]

On 20 October the Belgian government announced that the attack was officially classed as terrorism.[39] Later that day Belgian Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne resigned after it emerged that an extradition request by Tunisia for Lassoued in August 2022 had not been followed up by Belgian magistrates.[23]

On 24 October two men living in Paris were charged with terrorist-related offences in connection with the attack.[40] Two days later a man in Brussels suspected of helping Lassoued obtain his firearm was charged with terrorist-related murder and attempted murder and involvement in a terrorist organisation.[41]

See also

Notes
  1. Killed by police the morning after the attack

References
  1. "Musée juif, aéroport, école… la Belgique déjà frappée par plusieurs attentats meurtriers commis au nom de Daech". Le Parisien (in French). 17 October 2023.
  2. "Suspected suicide bomber shot at Brussels railway station". BBC News. 21 June 2017.
  3. "Brussels attack: Man shot after stabbing soldier". BBC News. 26 August 2017.
  4. "Paris attacks: Who were the attackers?". BBC News. 27 April 2016.
  5. Plazy, Sylvain; Casert, Raf (16 October 2023). "Gunman kills two Swedes in Brussels, prompting terror alert and halt of Belgium-Sweden soccer match". AP News.
  6. "Attentat à Bruxelles : "Je suis resté figé", un témoin raconte l'attaque". RTBF (in French). 17 October 2023.
  7. "Brussels shooting: Police shoot dead attacker who killed Swedes". BBC News. 17 October 2023.
  8. "Attentat à Bruxelles : match Belgique-Suède définitivement arrêté, public confiné... Le récit d'une soirée glaçante au stade Roi Baudouin". Le Figaro (in French). 16 October 2023.
  9. "UD: Två äldre svenska män döda i terrordådet i Bryssel" (in Swedish). TV4. 17 October 2023. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  10. "Attentat à Bruxelles: qui sont les deux supporters suédois assassinés par Abdesalem Lassoued?". 7sur7 (in French). 19 October 2023.
  11. "Suspect on the run after killing at least two in Brussels shooting". France 24. 16 October 2023.
  12. "Brussels shooting: 'Europe shaken' after two Swedes shot dead". BBC News. 16 October 2023.
  13. ""Folk tar av sig sina Sverigetröjor"". Sydsvenskan (in Swedish). 16 October 2023. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  14. "Bryssel höjer terrorhotnivån – Terrorattack i Bryssel". SVT (in Swedish). 16 October 2023.
  15. O'Carroll, Lisa; Bryant, Miranda; Tondo, Lorenzo (17 October 2023). "Killing of two Swedish football fans in Brussels 'probably lone wolf' attack". The Guardian.
  16. ""Dégage, tu es fou": Abdesalem Lassoued venait d'être mis à la porte par sa femme quand il a été repéré par deux policiers dans un parc". 7sur7 (in French). 19 October 2023.
  17. "Brussels attacker dies after being shot by police". Le Monde. 17 October 2023.
  18. "Brussels shootings: Gunman who killed two Swedes shot dead by police". Reuters. 17 October 2023.
  19. "Brussels: Suspected gunman who killed two people before football match dies after being shot by police". Sky News. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  20. "Who were the victims of the Brussels terror attack?". The Brussels Times. 19 October 2023.
  21. "Swedish and Belgian PMs lay wreaths for Brussels terror victims". The Guardian. 18 October 2023.
  22. "Attentat de Bruxelles : le ministre de la Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne démissionne". RTBF (in French). 20 October 2023.
  23. "Belgium's justice minister resigns after Brussels terror attack". The Guardian. 20 October 2023.
  24. "Lassoued had served two-year prison sentence in Sweden for drug charges". The Brussels Times. 18 October 2023.
  25. "Suspect in Brussels Attack Had Been Known to Belgian Authorities for Years". New York Times. 17 October 2023.
  26. "Utpekade terroristen Abdesalem Lassoued satt i svenskt fängelse" (in Swedish). Expressen. 17 October 2023.
  27. "Belgian police shoot dead 'lone wolf' who killed Swedish fans". France 24. 17 October 2023.
  28. "Attentat à Bruxelles : l'Etat islamique revendique l'attaque". Le Soir (in French). 17 October 2023.
  29. "Brussels attack: suspect shot dead by police after killing of Swedish football fans". The Guardian. 17 October 2023.
  30. "Deux supporters suédois tués à Bruxelles : voici l'auteur présumé, il se revendique membre de l'État islamique". La Libre Belgiqie. 16 October 2023.
  31. Robinson, James. "Brussels 'on highest terror alert' and football fans told to stay in stadium after two shot dead". Sky News. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  32. Wikén, Johan; Jönsson, Oskar; Alshawish, Kovan; Brusman, Filip (17 October 2023). "Han misstänks för attacken mot svenskar i Bryssel". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  33. "Attentat à Bruxelles : Alexander De Croo, Ulf Kristersson et Ursula von der Leyen plaident pour une sécurisation renforcée des frontières". RTBF (in French). 18 October 2023.
  34. Ringstrom, Anna; Solsvik, Terje (16 October 2023). "Sweden says killing of two Swedes in Brussels is terrible news". Reuters. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  35. "Terrorattack i Bryssel". SVT (in Swedish). 17 October 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  36. ""De vil skræmme os til tavshed, men det kommer de aldrig til": Her er de politiske reaktioner på formodet terrorangreb i Bruxelles". Altinget.dk (in Danish). 17 October 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  37. "Press statement by President von der Leyen with Belgian Prime Minister De Croo and Swedish Prime Minister Kristersson following the memorial for the victims of the Brussels attack of 16 October 2023". European Commission. 18 October 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  38. "UEFA declares Belgium vs. Sweden a draw after shooting near stadium, no games in Israel indefinitely". CBS Sports Network. 19 October 2023.
  39. "Attentat à Bruxelles - Le gouvernement reconnaît l'attentat du 16 octobre comme acte de terrorisme". La Libre (in French). 20 October 2023.
  40. "Brussels attack: Two suspects charged in French terror investigation". Le Monde (in French). 25 October 2023.
  41. "Man aangehouden die Lassoued allicht aan wapen hielp". De Standaard (in Dutch). 26 October 2023.
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