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BRUSSELS — Police fatally shot the gunman who killed two people in the Belgian capital in a possible terrorist attack, Belgian authorities said Tuesday, ending a manhunt that had left the city on edge, but doing little to ease fears of an uptick in political violence across Europe.
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Monday’s attack targeted three Swedish nationals, killing two and wounding one, on an evening when Sweden was playing Belgium in a Europe 2024 qualifier soccer match. That game was suspended and the city put on high alert while police searched for the attacker.
In a video that emerged after the shooting, a suspect identified himself as a fighter for the Islamic State extremist group — though authorities have not confirmed a connection.
The shooting came days after a teacher was killed and three people were wounded in a stabbing at a French high school. On Tuesday, France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor said in a news conference that the suspect in the killing had declared allegiance to the Islamic State before the attack.
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Although the motives and ties of both men remain unclear, the violence has deepened fear that the conflict between Israel and Hamas will spur violence in Europe, creating instability that could play into the hands of the far right.
Since Hamas launched its attack on Israel, the European Union has struggled to articulate a clear position, failing to take the diplomatic lead and drawing fury from all sides.
“The E.U. will have little ability to influence events unfolding in Israel and Gaza but could be seriously impacted by them,” wrote Mujtaba Rahman, managing director for Europe at the Eurasia Group, a political risk consulting firm.
The incidents, he continued in his note, “point to the societal and stability risks that, if repeated, could feed right-wing populists ahead of European elections next year.”
A gunman killed two Swedish nationals in Brussels on Oct. 16 in a possible terrorist attack. Police say they fatally shot the gunman after a manhunt. (Video: Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that “all European states are vulnerable” to a return of terrorist violence.
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“We all have a vulnerability. It’s what comes with being a democracy, a rule-of-law state where there are individuals who can decide at a given moment to commit the worst acts,” Macron told reporters in the Albanian capital, Tirana, according to Agence France-Presse.
In a news conference Tuesday, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said he understood “that many Swedes are afraid and angry” and declared that border controls in both Sweden and the European Union need to be improved.
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“This is a time for more security; we can’t be naive,” he said.
Details about the attack in Brussels are still emerging.
The gunman was identified in the Belgian press as a 45-year-old Tunisian national who was known to local authorities. Authorities suggested he targeted Swedes, but have otherwise said little about a motive.
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Sweden raised its terrorism alert level this summer after public burnings of the Quran led to threats and demonstrations. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called Quran-burning protests hate crimes and said Sweden won’t be allowed to join NATO as long as desecrations continue.
According to the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office, a witness called Brussels police at 8 a.m. Tuesday to say the suspect in the shootings was sitting in a cafe. “The police arrived at the scene and during the intervention, the suspect was shot,” a statement said. “The emergency services also arrived at the scene and tried to resuscitate the man.”
Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden told Belgian broadcaster VRT that the man was shot in a cafe in the Schaerbeek district and that the weapon found nearby was the same one used in the attack the night before.
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The death came after a long night in Brussels.
On Monday evening, the federal prosecutor’s office urged people to “go home and stay at home as long as the threat has not been eradicated.”
The Swedish and Belgian soccer teams, consulting with local authorities, decided to abandon their match midgame, according to the UEFA, the soccer league. After putting the stadium on lockdown, police helped evacuate fans.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that Monday’s killings were a “cowardly” attack. “We are monitoring the situation and ask the people of Brussels to be vigilant.”
He said he had been in touch with Sweden’s prime minister. “Our thoughts are with the families and friends who lost their loved ones,” he wrote. “As close partners the fight against terrorism is a joint one.”
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Belgium’s foreign minister, Hadja Lahbib, wrote on X that she was “horrified” by the attack. “All necessary means must be mobilized to combat radicalism.”
In July, six men were found guilty for their roles in a 2016 attack that killed 32 and injured hundreds in Brussels. A year before that assault, a team of gunmen claiming allegiance to the Islamic State carried out attacks in Paris that killed over 100 people.
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