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Belgian terrorist suspect killed in café shooting

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Police cordon off the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels after a gunman killed two Swedish nationals © Dursun Aydemir / Anadolu via Getty Images

According to the interior minister, the individual who killed two Swedish football fans on Monday died following a gunfight with police.

Officials and the media have reported that the shooter who killed two Swedish football fans in Brussels on Monday in an attack by an Islamist terrorist has passed away following a gunfight with police.

The suspect’s death was officially confirmed on Tuesday morning by Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden, who said that he had been definitively identified as the terrorist attack’s perpetrator. She praised the responsiveness of the police to the emergency.

According to earlier reports in Belgian media, the man was cornered in a cafe in the northeastern commune of Schaerbeek. After being shot in the chest, he was taken to the hospital and later died.

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As opposed to what was previously believed, the authorities have stated that they are looking into whether the terrorist was a member of a group or operated alone.

At a Euro 2024 qualification game on Monday night in Brussels, a shooter opened fire on spectators, forcing the game to be abandoned at the half.

READ ALSO: Following two fatal shootings, Belgium issues “terror alert”

Belgian media reported that the attacker shot two people before injuring a third person in another part of Brussels. Online videos have been released that show a man riding a scooter while carrying an assault rifle while donning an orange jacket.

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He identified himself as Abdesalem Al Guilani, a supporter of the terrorist organisation Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS), in a video that the assassin reportedly made and put online. He asserted that it was avenging sins committed against Muslims.

The suspect, a 45-year-old Tunisian male, applied for asylum in Belgium in November 2019, according to Vincent Van Quickenborne, minister of justice of Belgium. The minister stated during a news conference on Monday that he was charged with transporting individuals into the nation as well as unlawfully staying there.

Alexander De Croo, the prime minister of Belgium, sent his condolences to the Swedish people over the loss of two of their citizens and claimed that “blind hatred” was what motivated the terrorist assault.

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