Twelve hours of fear. The deserted city, Sweden shrouded in grief, Europe once again hit by terrorism. Brussels, after 7 and a half years, is once again the scene of an attack that bears the mark of ISIS. Abdesalem Lassoued, a 45-year-old of Tunisian origin, the man who killed two Swedish citizens who had arrived in Belgium to watch their national team with Kalashnikovs, was arrested shortly before eight in the morning after an all-night manhunt. It was in a bar a stone's throw from home, in Schaerbeek. Someone called the authorities reporting the presence of the bomber.
The police intervention ended in blood: Abdesalem was shot in the chest, he died shortly afterwards in hospital. It's been a hectic few hours in the Belgian capital. And Abdesalem's death has not entirely calmed the waters. One or more accomplices, according to the information initially provided by the authorities, were on foot. With the fear that an ISIS sleeper cell had become active again in Brussels.
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"At the moment we think he is a lone wolf," the Belgian government clarified a few hours later, confirming that the attacker, whose asylum request had been rejected in 2020, had lived the last few years in Belgium practically incognito. A ghost, yet ready to strike. In a video released shortly before hitting the three Swedish citizens, Abdesalem warned that "the book of Allah is the red line for sacrifice." Then he took up the kashnikov, mounted a moped and struck in the northern area of the center of Brussels, not far from the King Baudouin stadium where the Belgium-Sweden match was due to begin shortly, then suspended.
Throughout the night, Abdesalem managed to evade the police. Wearing his orange jacket, he was filmed in the moments of the attack and when, shortly after, he was riding a scooter through the empty streets of Brussels. In the meantime, the stadium in Brussels was evacuated in an orderly manner. Shortly before dawn, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo updated the press, asking everyone to remain vigilant. The Netherlands and France, meanwhile, had tightened border controls. For a few hours, the Benelux returned to the spectre of the attacks of 2015 at the Bataclan and the following year at the Maalbeek metro station and Zavenetem airport in Brussels. But the killer's run came to a halt at first light. Abdesalem was neutralized in a Moroccan bar-restaurant, Al Khaimah, a few steps from Place Eugene Verboekhoven, commonly known as the 'bear cage' for an architectural dispute dating back to the 800s.
The attacker had returned to his neighborhood, and died a few steps from his residence, which had also been searched during the night. He was armed but, according to the federal prosecutor's report, he did not open fire on the officers and was shot in the chest. Rushed to intensive care, he didn't make it in the end. His capture eased tensions in a city where European schools (but not public ones) had already announced that they would not open and EU institutions had in fact planned a day of teleworking. The alert, from code 4 - the maximum - has dropped to 3.
Attack in Brussels, two Swedish fans and the killer killed - Primopiano - Ansa.it
"Now we have to answer a question about the motives of the attacker," Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne said. Sweden is one of the countries where, in recent weeks, Koran books have been burned in public protests. But it is also the country that, years ago, expelled Abdesalem. And then there is the context of the war in the Middle East, which investigators do not rule out is linked to the killer's gesture. Meanwhile, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is expected in Brussels for a commemoration ceremony together with De Croo. The two people killed were between 60 and 70 years old. One of them resided in Switzerland. "It was a direct attack on Sweden," Kristersson thundered.
The bomber served a prison sentence in Sweden. This was reported by the Swedish immigration authorities.
Video Brussels, the video of the attacker: 'Revenge for Muslims'
The bomber who landed in Lampedusa in 2011
According to reports, Abdesalem Lassoued arrived in Lampedusa in 2011 on board a small boat. After a stay in Italy he went to Sweden, from where he seems to have been expelled. Back in Italy, in 2016 he was identified in Bologna by the Digos as radicalized: he had expressed his willingness to join the jihad and leave to fight. The man was also monitored by intelligence. He later went to Belgium. It cannot be ruled out that yesterday he hit two Swedes because of the discontent he felt towards the country from which he had been expelled.
Meloni: 'Italy's condolences to Belgium and Sweden'
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni "expressed to the Belgian Prime Ministers, De Croo and Swedish Kristersson, Italy's deepest condolences and her own condolences for the serious attack carried out last night in Brussels". This was reported in a note from Palazzo Chigi after the videoconference meeting with the members of the European Council, "convened by President Charles Michel to discuss the Hamas attack suffered by Israel and the implications of the ongoing conflict, also with reference to the humanitarian situation in Gaza".
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