Belgium, Brussels

A man suspected of fatally shooting two Swedish football fans in an attack in Brussels was shot dead by Belgian police on Tuesday (Oct 17). Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden said the weapon that was allegedly used by the man has also been recovered, reported the Associated Press.

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Officials said the police opened fire at the attacker and shot him dead during the arrest. This was the result of an intensive overnight manhunt in the Belgian capital. 

Early videos doing the rounds on social media of Monday’s attack showed a man in an orange fluorescent vest pulling up on a scooter, pulling out a large weapon and opening fire on passersby before chasing them into a building to shoot them all down. Apparently, he vowed allegiance to the Islamic State and was avenging the killing of a six-year-old boy in the US killed by his landlord because of his religion in the wake of the Hamas-Israel war. 

Previously, Prime Minister Alexander de Croo said the suspect was of Tunisian origin and had been living in Brussels illegally. 

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"The terrorist attack that happened yesterday was committed with total cowardice, the attacker chose as a target two Swedish football fans," de Croo told a news conference. 

Sweden expressed its condemnation over the shooting which took place just before a Belgium-Sweden football match on Monday evening (Oct 16), with hundreds of Swedish fans in attendance. 

Sweden has been the focal point of a bitter controversy this year with Muslim countries after police authorised several protests at which copies of the Koran, Islam's holy book, were burned.

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"Devastated by the news of two Swedish football supporters murdered in Brussels tonight and a third person being seriously wounded. All my thoughts are with their families and loved ones," Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said.

"Swedish authorities work closely with their Belgian partners to find the murderer," he added, in a social media post.

Football match abruptly called off

As news spread of the killings, the Group F European qualifier match between Belgium and Sweden was called off at half-time and some 35,000 fans were quickly evacuated from the King Baudouin stadium. 

Also read | Video: Hamas releases chilling footage of 'hurt and scared' hostage

Officers ensured extra protection for Swedish nationals at the game, escorting Sweden's national players directly to the airport,  Belgium's football association CEO told the RTBF channel.

(With inputs from agencies)

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