Attack in Brussels: a man arrested in France

Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: Jeff PACHOUD / AFP 16:51 p.m., October 20, 2023

A man was arrested Thursday in Nantes, western France, in connection with the investigation opened in Belgium after the attack that claimed the lives of two Swedes Monday in Brussels, we learned Friday from sources close to the case. Belgian investigators are looking into whether the attacker, Abdesalem Lassoued, who was shot dead by Belgian police on Tuesday, was in contact with other radicalized people in other European countries.

"Lone Wolf"

The man arrested in Nantes had received, before the passage to the act Monday around 19:00 (17:00 GMT), the video claiming his double murder by Lassoued, said one of the sources, confirming information from the French daily Ouest-France. The identity of the suspect has not been specified. He would also be Tunisian, like Abdesalem Lassoued, according to Ouest-France. On Tuesday, Belgium's federal prosecutor, Frédéric Van Leeuw, said that the scenario of the radicalized person who had acted as a "lone wolf" was favoured by investigators. But "all doors must be closed," another source close to the matter told AFP.

>> ALSO READ – Jihadist attack in Brussels: Belgian anti-terrorism weakened by a drop in personnel and investment

Belgium has given "several pieces of information to several countries" about people who have been in contact recently with the Brussels attacker, the source added, citing France and Germany. It is then up to the authorities of these countries to check whether or not these profiles are likely to be of interest to the Belgian investigation, it was argued. Contacted by AFP, France's National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (PNAT) did not comment.

ISIS claims responsibility for the attack

Monday's attack, which occurred near downtown Brussels shortly before a soccer match between Belgium and Sweden, targeted Swedish fans. The assailant killed two of them in cold blood with an AR-15 automatic rifle and wounded a third, before fleeing on a scooter. He was located on Tuesday morning in a café in the Brussels municipality of Schaerbeek, where he was fatally wounded by police gunfire. His gun was recovered.

>> ALSO READ – Brussels attack: in Schaerbeek, the place of residence of the suspected terrorist, the inhabitants shaken

Since 2011, Abdesalem Lassoued had applied for asylum in four European countries, Norway, Sweden, Italy and Belgium, each time his request was refused. He was known to the Belgian authorities for crimes but was not registered in the database of OCAM, the federal agency responsible for analysing the terrorist threat. In his video claiming responsibility, the 45-year-old Tunisian said he was inspired by the Islamic State group. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack on Tuesday night, saying it had targeted Sweden because of its membership in a global anti-jihadist coalition.