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Gunman kills two Swedes in Brussels, prompting terror alert and halt of Belgium-Sweden soccer match


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The terrorist has been eliminated.

 

WWW.THEGUARDIAN.COM

Belgian interior minister says weapon found on ‘neutralised person’ was same as that used in the attack

 

 

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The man suspected of killing two Swedish football fans and wounding another in a terrorist attack in Brussels on Monday night has died after being shot by police.

 

Belgium’s interior minister, Annelies Verlinden, told the broadcaster VRT that an automatic weapon found on the “neutralised person” was the same as that used during the attack that killed two Swedish men, one in his 60s and one in his 70s.

 

Belgian authorities have confirmed that the man shot outside a cafe in the Schaerbeek area near the city centre was the suspect.

 

Police opened fire during the arrest, said Eric Van Duyse, a spokesperson for the Belgian prosecutors’ service. Earlier on Tuesday morning, a search took place in a house near the scene of the attack but the perpetrator was not found.

 

Belgium’s national crisis centre said a witness called police to say they had spotted the suspect shortly after 8am in Schaerbeek.

 

“The police went to the scene,” it said. “During the intervention, shots were fired by police and the suspect was shot dead. Emergency services, upon arriving at the scene, attempted to resuscitate the suspect. He was transferred to hospital where he was pronounced dead at 9.38am.

 

“A weapon and a bag of clothes were found in the cafe. The Brussels prosecutor’s office is investigating the shooting. In the interest of the investigation, no further information can be given at this time.”

 

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The suspect, a 45-year-old Tunisian calling himself Abdesalem Al Guilani, claimed in a video on social media that he was a fighter for Allah.

 

The Belgian justice minister, Vincent Van Quickenborne, said the man had sought asylum in Belgium in November 2019 and was known to police in connection with people-smuggling and illegal residence in Belgium. His asylum application was rejected, it has been reported.

 

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The suspect is understood to have spent time in Italy. A photograph on his Facebook profile, which has now been taken down, showed him in Genoa’s Piazza della Vittoria in 2021.

 

He was also traced and identified by police in Bologna in 2016, according to Italy’s security service, which is investigating potential links between the man and others in Italy.

 

The Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, said the attacker had previously visited Sweden and that it was clear the shootings were directly targeted at the country.

 

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