“Unfortunately we saw it yesterday [esta segunda-feira] in Brussels: all European states are vulnerable. And there is actually a return of Islamic terrorism, and we are all vulnerable. This is what happens when you are a democracy, a constitutional state where there are individuals who at a given moment can decide to commit the worst acts,” said French President Emmanuel Macron about the fatal shooting of a 45-year-old man. Tunisian against two Swedish citizens, the latest case to shake Europe.
In this case, as in Friday’s attack on a school in France, the two perpetrators claimed loyalty to the terrorist organization Islamic State, although in both cases neither perpetrator linked their actions to current events in Gaza. Hours later, the terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack in Brussels.
On Tuesday morning, Belgian police located the man who killed two Swedes and injured a third who was in Brussels to support the national team. Abdesalem Lassoued, a 45-year-old Tunisian, was killed by authorities in a cafe in Schaarbeek, on the outskirts of the Belgian capital. After the fatal shooting of the Swedes, the man who was in Belgium illegally fled on a scooter and published a video on social media stating that the nationality of the victims motivated the crimes, saying he was ‘inspired by the Islamic State’ . “.
“We cannot be naive,” said the Swedish Prime Minister. The Belgian authorities did not know the whereabouts of the Tunisian, whose asylum had been refused.
State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor reported during a press conference that Lassoued had tried to obtain asylum in November 2019, but the request was rejected. The authorities lost track of him, despite the fact that he was “known to the police for suspicion of human trafficking, illegal residence and attacks on state security”, according to Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne.
In August, Swedish authorities raised the threat level from three to four (on a scale of five) after several protests involving the burning of copies of the Quran by an Iraqi, followed by demonstrations, threats and diplomatic protests in several Islamic countries and even the invasion from the Swedish embassy in Iraq.
“Sweden has never been as threatened in modern times as it is now,” said Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. “We cannot be naive,” he said. While acknowledging that it is time for “more security, more caution and more vigilance,” Kristersson vowed to “protect the open and democratic society.” And he concluded: “They want to silence us… That won’t happen.”
On Tuesday, France’s counter-terrorism prosecutor, Jean-François Ricard, announced that the perpetrator of the stabbing at the high school in Arras, in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, Mohammed Mogouchkov, a 20-year-old former student from Chechen, also recorded video and audio following the murder of a teacher and the injuries inflicted on three other employees. In addition to his sworn allegiance to Islamic State, he said he “supports the Muslims of Iraq, Asia and Palestine,” although Ricard said no connection could be made to recent events.
The young terrorist, who was arrested like his 16-year-old younger brother – this time on suspicion of complicity – also showed hatred for France, democracy and the education he received. Mogouchkov’s radicalization had been noticed by the authorities and he had been under surveillance since the summer.
Source: DN
