Fear in Brussels after the terrorist attack that hit the heart of the European capital causing the death of two people and plunging the city, and with it the entire continent, into fear of new attacks.
Just two days after the attack in France which caused the death of a professor and while the Middle East is in flames, the strategy of terror strikes again , with a dynamic that recalls that implemented by ISIS on the occasion of the match at the Stade de France in November 2015.
The attacker , after a manhunt that lasted throughout the night, died after being wounded in a firefight with the police . The man was identified by some witnesses in a bar , who then alerted the officers.
Tunisian asylum seeker since 2019 and identified as Abdesalem Lassoued, 45 years old, known to the federal intelligence services for his Islamic radicalization, in a video he claims to have "avenged Muslims" and to be "a mujahid of ISIS". «I am a Mujahid of the Islamic State, whether you like it or not. We live for our religion and we die for this same religion", he said in the last few hours, announcing the killing of "three Swedes" shouting Allah Akbar.
In the past , as confirmed by the images of a video shot in 2021, Abdesalem Lassoued would also have been in Genoa and Bologna . A photo published on his Facebook profile, now darkened, portrays him in the Ligurian capital in Piazza Della Vittoria, during a stay probably while heading to France.
In the Emilian capital, according to what Ansa reports, he was instead tracked down and identified by the police in 2016.
The Belgian Interior Ministry also does not rule out that the attacker had accomplices . Investigators are trying to track down the author of the video which captures the action . According to some media , the possibility that the murderer is part of a terrorist cell is also being examined .
THE RECONSTRUCTION – The horror was unleashed in the late afternoon of yesterday, near Place Sainctelette, in the central area, near the canal that crosses the city not far from the Molenbeek district, from where the terrorist attacks that devastated Paris and threw France in the horror of the Bataclan. Two people, two fans of the Swedish national team who came to watch the Belgium-Sweden match, were killed with Kalashnikov shots. Everything happens in a very short time, just over a minute , around 7.15pm.
In a video circulating on social networks you can clearly see a man wearing an orange jacket and a white helmet on his head stopping on the pavement , dropping the scooter he arrived on and holding an automatic rifle, probably an Ak-47, start shooting . At this point the man is seen entering the nearby entrance hall of an office building to chase panicked people. More gunshots are heard, then we see the killer coming out of the entrance hall and giving the final blow to one of the victims and then getting back on the scooter and disappearing. There is no doubt about the terrorist origin of the attack.
In the space of a few hours the Belgian capital falls into a surreal atmosphere . After raising the alert to the highest level, the national crisis center invites the population to stay at home and not go out except for essential matters. The Belgium-Sweden match was suspended and for fear that the attacker could strike again all the spectators were blocked inside.
The evacuation will take place during the night, after the definitive cancellation of the match.
From the information gathered by the authorities, reports the Italian ambassador to Belgium Federica Favi, «it seems that it is a lone wolf. They assured me that no Italians are currently involved."
Even the headquarters of the European Parliament was sealed for hours .
Belgian Prime Minister De Croo, the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Justice immediately met to follow the events together with the crisis cell, while the federal counter-terrorism services took charge of the case.
This morning at five o'clock a new update and the press conference with the Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo , who confirmed the news that had begun to leak yesterday evening, namely that the attacker "is of Tunisian origin and was staying illegally in Belgium" . The man's house was also searched. Alert level 4 has been triggered in the capital, indicating a "serious and imminent" terrorist threat.
In Paris, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin gave instructions to strengthen border controls between France and Belgium.
THE REACTIONS – «My thoughts go to the families of the two victims of the despicable attack that took place in Brussels . My absolute support for the Belgian police forces to quickly capture the suspect. We are united against terrorism,” the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, wrote in X. "The heart of Europe has been hit by violence", echoed the President of the EU Council Charles Michel. While French President Emmanuel Macron sadly observed that " our Europe is being turned upside down" by "Islamic terrorism" . Once again.
(Unioneonline/vl)