JUST NOW: Raising the terror threat level - Swedes killed Brussels

Terrorist act in Brussels - people in Swedish national team shirts dead 

 

Emil Forsberg,  

Nelly Kronstrand, Lina Dawood,  

Johan Flinck,  

Hans Österman  

 

Updated 22.18 | Published 20.21  

 

A shooting has taken place in central Brussels.  

 

Two Swedish citizens have been killed, Belgian police confirm. Both should have worn Swedish national team jerseys, according to local media.  

 

The perpetrator is still at large and the terror threat level has been raised to the maximum in Brussels after the crime.  

 

Quick version  

 

* Two Swedes have been killed in a shooting in central Brussels; both wore Swedish national team jerseys.  

* A video shows the suspected perpetrator swearing allegiance to IS and claiming that he "just killed Swedes".  

* The perpetrator is still at large and Belgium is holding a crisis meeting.  

 

A large area has been cordoned off in central Brussels and the police have deployed large white curtains, says Aftonbladet's reporter Johan Flinck, who is on the scene.  

 

- It is shocking. We were informed in the press room in connection with the national anthem.  

 

There are blue lights everywhere, he says.  

 

A total of three people are said to have been shot. Two Swedish citizens have been killed, Belgian police told Reuters. Both are said to have worn a Swedish national team shirt, writes Sudinfo.  

 

A person is said to have been shot at at the entrance to a building. Then two people were shot in a taxi, according to Belgian HNL.  

 

The shooting happened just five kilometers from the football arena where Sweden is playing a European Championship qualifier against Belgium. The match has now been cancelled.

 

A video from the scene shows how the perpetrator wearing an orange vest gets off his moped and shouts "Allahu akbar" in connection with the shots being fired. Action after the shooting in Brussels on Monday night. 

 

  

1 / 3Photo: Sylvain Plazy / AP  

 

Pledge allegiance to IS  

 

After the shooting, a video was published in which the suspected perpetrator himself states that he "just killed Swedes".  

 

He also swears allegiance to the terrorist sect IS. 

 

- Those of you who like it or dislike it, I am a mujahidin for Allah within the Islamic State, IS. We live for our religion. We die for our religion. We thank God. Your brother Abulsalam is taking revenge for Muslims and now I have killed three Swedes. I thank God. I will meet God and the prophet with joy, he says in the clip.  

 

The perpetrator is still at large, according to the police.  

 

Belgium's government is now in a crisis meeting, according to BNO News. After the crime, the terrorist threat level has been raised to a four on the four-point scale and a third nationally, writes Sudinfo.

 

Aftonbladet has been in contact with the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is investigating the incident. 

 

Several people in the area witnessed the brutal shooting. 

 

- I saw a lifeless person on the ground. I was in total shock and started screaming, says a witness to HLN. 

 

Aftonbladet has applied to Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Foreign Minister Tobias Billström and the Swedish Foreign Ministry.