Two Dead in ‘Allah hu Akbar’ Shooting in Brussels, Alleged Shooter Claims Affiliation with ISIS

TOPSHOT - This photograph shows the police perimeter at the site of a shooting incident in
HATIM KAGHAT/Belga/AFP via Getty Images
Kurt Zindulka

At least two people have been shot and killed in Brussels during a shooting in which witnesses claim the perpetrator shouted “Allah hu Akbar” on Monday evening.

UPDATE 2250: Following a suspected Islamist shooting earlier on Monday evening, Belgium’s OCAD anti-terror centre has raised the terror threat level in the Brussels metropolitan area to the highest level of four, meaning that the threat is “very serious and imminent”. According to the Associated Press, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo suggested that the shooting was linked to “terrorism”.

UPDATE 2130: The European Championship qualifier soccer match between Belgium and Sweden has been postponed after a suspected Islamist shooting that left two Swedish nationals dead in Brussels on Monday evening. Following the shooting, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced a tightening of immigration controls on the border with Belgium, Het Laatste Nieuws reported.

The original story continues as follows…

According to the local De Standaard newspaper, Brussels police have confirmed at least two fatalities as a result of a shooting in the Saincteletteplein area of Brussels at around 7:15 pm local time Monday evening.

The two victims are believed to be Swedish nationals given that they were wearing soccer jerseys for the Swedish national team, which was playing the Belgium Red Devils on Monday evening in Brussels.

Witnesses of the shooting said that the shooter shouted the Islamic jihad war cry “Allah hu Akbar” during the attack in which he shot a Kalashnikov-like weapon from his scooter, the

TOPSHOT - Belgian police officers from the forensic service search for evidence in a street after two people were killed during a shooting in Brussels on October 16, 2023 evening by a suspect who is on the run, the Belgian capital's prosecutor's office said. The alleged gunman in a fluorescent orange jacket fled the scene after using an automatic rifle, according to a video shared by Flemish newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws. A spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office said an investigation had been opened but did not speculate on the gunman's motive. (Photo by Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP) (Photo by KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP via Getty Images)

TOPSHOT – Belgian police officers from the forensic service search for evidence in a street after two people were killed during a shooting in Brussels on October 16, 2023. (Photo by Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP) (Photo by KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP via Getty Images)

An unverified video on social media alleged to have been published by the shooter said in Arabic that the purpose of the attack was to “avenge the Muslims and that we live and die for our religion.” The man went on to claim that he is a member of the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) and boasts of killing the “infidels”.

The shooter remains at large at the time of this reporting. Belgium’s federal public prosecutor’s office has reportedly taken over the investigation meaning that the attack is likely being considered a terror attack.

The shooting comes amid heightened tension across Europe in the wake of the deadly terror attacks by Hamas against Israel earlier this month. Last week, a teacher in France was stabbed to death in what is believed to have been an Islamist-inspired attack, with the alleged killer also reportedly shouting “Allah hu Akbar”.

This story is developing…

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