High risk of death in Belgium

Two Swedes were shot dead in a terrorist attack in Brussels on Monday evening.

According to researcher Hans Brun, the risk of terrorist acts in Belgium has long been among the highest in Europe.

– The country is a hotspot, he says.

The shooting occurred in connection with Sweden’s European Championship qualifying match against Belgium on Monday evening. Two people died and another person was seriously injured.

Belgian media have stated that the suspect wanted “revenge on Muslims”. At least one of the dead Swedes is reported in the Belgian media to have worn a Swedish national team shirt.

– Right now, you don’t know if it is a coincidence or an element of opportunism, that he simply only saw the Swedes, says Hans Brun, researcher at King’s College in London, and continues:

– But since this summer, there has been an increased threat to Swedes due to the Koran burnings.

“Opportunity”

Magnus Ranstorp, terrorism researcher at the Norwegian Defense Academy, suspects that the man has specifically targeted people wearing Sweden shirts and that it has to do with the heightened threat image.

– My suspicion is that someone has taken the opportunity when there are Swedes in the city. That they have seen an opportunity to access Sweden.

As there are many European institutions in Brussels, both police and military are a common feature of the cityscape, according to Ranstorp.

– But it is almost impossible to fully protect yourself when a person with an automatic weapon starts shooting in town, he says.

Similar attacks

According to Hans Brun, Belgium is one of the countries in Europe where there is the highest risk of terrorist acts.

– It is one of the countries, along with France, that has the biggest problem with jihadist terrorism, which this person seems to want to be associated with. That something like this happens in Brussels is therefore not unexpected, he says.

– They have had similar attacks in the past, carried out by lone actors against different targets.