The suspect in the murder of Swedes during an attack on Monday night in Brussels has died after being fatally injured during an arrest at a café in the Belgian capital on Tuesday morning.

The suspect, a 45-year-old Tunisian who was staying illegally in Belgium, was shot dead in a café in Brussels' Sherbeek district shortly after 6 a.m. (00:<> GMT) on the basis of a witness he identified.

"During the intervention, shots were fired and the suspect was shot dead," prosecutors in Brussels said. Emergency services tried to resuscitate him at the site, and he was then taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead at 9:38 a.m.

The attack took place near the Sanctiliette Square in the northern neighborhoods of the Belgian capital ahead of the Euro 2024 qualifier between Belgium and Sweden, which led to the halt of the match at half-time and then the gradual evacuation of the stadium, as Swedish fans were transported with security escort to the airport to return home.

According to Belgian authorities, the suspect shot dead two Swedes and fled on a motorcycle, and two other people, including a taxi driver, were injured, but they were out of danger.

A video circulated on social media posted by a man presenting himself as the attacker, saying he was "inspired by the Islamic State", according to the public prosecutor in charge of terrorism cases.

Belgian federal prosecutor spokesman Eric van Doys said the "Swedish citizenship of the victims was mentioned as a possible motive for this act" in the video in which the attacker claims responsibility.

Swedish warning

Shortly after the suspect's death was announced, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Christersson warned at a press conference that Sweden was "more threatened than ever", stressing that what happened was "a terrorist attack targeting Swedes".

In turn, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo described the attack as a "cowardly attack," calling on his citizens during a press conference on Tuesday morning, to unite "in the fight against terrorism," and said that "terrorism will never win," and spoke of an attack "with a weapon of war."

Following the attack, the National Crisis Centre was activated and the terrorist threat in the Brussels region was raised to level four, "extremely dangerous", and to level three ("dangerous") in the rest of the country.

Sweden decided on August 17 to raise the level of preparedness for a terrorist attack, saying that the threat of attacks "will continue for a long time", while its image has deteriorated significantly in the Muslim world after several desecrations and burning of the Holy Quran on its soil.