Hours after a man shot dead two Swedes and injured a third in Belgium's capital Brussels, the suspect was on Tuesday killed in a shootout with the police.
The man was identified as Abdesalem Al Guilani, 45, who was staying in the country illegally. He was from Tunisia.
While the authorities declined to say if it was an act of terror, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo termed it a terrorist attack.
The three men attacked were in Brussels to watch a Belgium versus Sweden football match, which was cancelled after the shooting.
The attack comes within a day of a teacher's killing in France that is also being treated as an act of terror.
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Following the killing of two men in Brussels, the suspect posted a video on the internet in which he identified himself as a member of the terrorist group ISIS and claimed responsibility for the attack, according to Reuters.
"According to a media transcript of the video message recorded by the self-declared perpetrator, the attacker said he had killed Swedes to avenge Muslims...In a video on social media, the suspected gunman called himself Abdesalem Al Guilani," reported Reuters.
Guilani fled the scene after the murders and was later found at a cafe where he was shot dead by the police.
Reuters further reported that Guilani had sought asylum in the country and was denied. He was living in the country illegally.
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The incident comes in the midst of ongoing Israel-Hamas War that has polarised communities across the world. While the authorities initially said there was no connection to the war, they later said that there were pro-Palestine post on his social media accounts and those could have played a role in the attack, according to The Guardian. The paper further reported that the man identified himself as a "fighter of Allah".
Following the incident, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said it was a time to not be naive and the two were killed for their nationality alone.
"This is a time for more security, we can't be naive," Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told a news conference in Stockholm, calling for stricter border controls in Europe, as per Reuters. "These terrorists want to scare us into obedience and silence. That will not happen."
Kristersson further said, "Two Swedes were shot dead in cold blood...Everything indicates that it was a terror attack aimed at Sweden and Swedish citizens just because they are Swedish."
