Belgium, Sweden to hold ceremony for victims

A police officer stands guard in the street in the Schaerbeek area of Brussels on October 17, 2023, where the suspected perpetrator of the attack in Brussels was shot dead during a police intervention. Brussels police on October 17, 2023 shot and fatally wounded an attacker accused of gunning down two Swedish football fans in what Belgium’s prime minister condemned as an act of “terrorist madness”. (Photo by JAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE / BELGA / AFP) / BELGIUM OUT

The prime ministers of Belgium and Sweden will take part in a ceremony in Brussels on Wednesday to honour the two Swedish football fans killed in a “terror attack”, the two said.

“Sweden and Belgium mourn the victims of yesterday’s attack together,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

He said he had invited his Swedish counterpart to the Belgian capital “to commemorate the victims and pay tribute to the police”.

“We wish the people of Sweden strength and courage to get through these difficult times.”

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson replied on X that he would attend.

The Scandinavian country is reeling in shock over the shooting, which killed two Swedish football fans and wounded a third just before the start of a Belgium-Sweden international football match in Brussels on Monday evening.

A taxi driver was also wounded.

The suspected attacker is a 45-year-old Tunisian living illegally in Belgium.

In a social media post after the killings, the gunman had boasted of being inspired by the Islamic State extremist group.

Kristersson said the suspect had also “spent time in Sweden” but provided no further details.

He was shot and killed by Belgian police early on Tuesday after an overnight manhunt.

Sweden’s foreign ministry on Tuesday said the victims were a man in his 70s from the Stockholm region and a man in his 60s living abroad.

The wounded Swede was a man in his 70s currently in hospital, it said.

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