Belgium raises terror alert to highest level as 2 Swedes killed in Brussels shooting
Belgian source says a video is circulating of an Arabic-speaking man claiming responsibility for the killings; not clear if attack linked to global uproar over Israel-Hamas war

BRUSSELS — Belgian authorities raised the terror alert to its highest level in the capital late Monday after the fatal shooting of two Swedes in Brussels that Prime Minister Alexander De Croo suggested was linked to terrorism.
The OCAD anti-terror center also said that the terror alert for the rest of the country was raised to its second-highest level.
Laura Demullier of the OCAD center said in an interview that the highest priority for authorities now was to get thousands of soccer fans attending the Belgium-Sweden soccer match safely out of the stadium where the match had been abandoned half-way through.
The shooter was still at large and the killings happened some 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the stadium, where over 35,000 fans were watching the game. “The population needs to be actively vigilant and avoid any unnecessary travel,” Demullier said.
Raising the terror level to the top 4 rating means that a “threat is extremely serious.” It previously stood at 2, which means the threat was average.
“I have just offered my sincere condolences to @SwedishPM following tonight’s harrowing attack on Swedish citizens in Brussels,” De Croo said. He added on X, formerly known as Twitter, “As close partners the fight against terrorism is a joint one.”

It was not immediately clear if the shooting was linked to the international uproar over the Israel-Hamas war.
“A horrible shooting in Brussels, and the perpetrator is actively being tracked down,” said Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden, adding that she was joining government talks at the National Crisis Center.
The alleged gunman in a fluorescent orange jacket fled the scene after using an automatic rifle, according to a video shared by Flemish newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws.
A video claiming responsibility for the shooting was circulating on social media, in which a man speaks Arabic, a source close to the case said.
A police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters, said the two victims were Swedes.
Police spokeswoman Ilse Vande Keere said officers arrived soon at the scene and sealed off the immediate neighborhood. She declined to elaborate on the circumstances of the shooting.
The shooting came at a time of increased vigilance linked to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war that has heightened tension in several European nations. At the same time, the Belgian capital has been the scene of increased violence linked to increasing international drug trafficking.