Belgium Police Killed Terror Suspect Accused in Death of 2 Soccer Fans After Hourslong Manhunt in Brussels
Lawrence Richard, Fox News, October 17, 2023
Police in Belgium shot and killed a suspected Tunisian extremist on Tuesday who was believed to be responsible for killing two Swedish soccer fans the day before.
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Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden told broadcaster VRT that authorities eventually found the suspect, who was identified as a 45-year-old man, after searching for several hours in the Belgian capital {snip}
BREAKING:
The Brussels terrorist has been identified as 45-y-old Abdesalem Lassoued.
He's a Tunisian citizen, is in Belgium illegally & has earlier been tried in Tunisia for terrorist acts.
He has been riding around Brussels on a scooter shooting with an AK, killing 2 so far pic.twitter.com/Qq95FSuL1y
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 17, 2023
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During Monday’s attack, a suspect wearing an orange fluorescent vest pulled up on a scooter, took out a gun and brazenly opened fire on two people walking along a street before chasing them into a building to gun them down, amateur videos posted on social media appeared to show.
“Last night, three people left for what was supposed to be a wonderful soccer party. Two of them lost their lives in a brutal terrorist attack,” Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said {snip}
De Croo said the assailant was a Tunisian man living illegally in Belgium who used a military weapon to kill the two Swedes and shoot a third victim, who is being treated for “severe injuries.”
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During the press conference, Federal Prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw described how the suspect had posted a video online claiming to have killed three Swedish people.
In the video, the suspect is alleged to have mentioned the Quran, calling it “a red line for which he is ready to sacrifice himself.”
According to Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne, the suspect was denied asylum in 2019. He was known to police and had been suspected of involvement of human trafficking, living illegally in Belgium and of being a risk to state security.
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