French police have arrested two Paris-area residents over links to the October 16th terrorist attack in Brussels which saw two people killed and a third critically injured.
Two people have been arrested on suspicion of criminal terrorist association over alleged links to the October 16th terrorist attack in Brussels, Belgium. The two unnamed individuals are said by French specialist counter-terror prosecutors, Paris newspaper Le Figaro reports, to have complicity in terrorist “assassination”.
The pair are being held in pre-trial detention. Six people have been arrested in France over the Belgium attack so far, and four continue to be held.
It is believed that failed Tunisian asylum seeker Abdesalem Lassoued was behind the deaths of two Swedish football fans in Brussels last Monday. It is claimed he rode around the city on a moped while carrying an assault rifle-type long arm and shot at members of the public while shouting the infamous Arabic war cry “Allah hu Akbar”.
Those killed and injured appear to have been targeted because they were wearing the colours of the Swedish football team, which was playing a match in the city that night. Swedish football fans have been now warned not to wear their national strip while abroad, and this attack follows earlier warnings from the Swedish government that their citizens are at a heightened risk of attack while abroad.
Two Dead in ‘Allah hu Akbar’ Shooting in Brussels, Alleged Shooter Claims Affiliation with ISIShttps://t.co/sOtpqLMOAn
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) October 16, 2023
The increased risk specifically to Swedes has been blamed on a violent reaction by Muslims worldwide to a series of freedom and expression and freedom of speech demonstrations and rallies in the form of Qur’an burnings held in Swedish cities, which Muslim hardliners see as unacceptable.
As revealed after the attack, alleged attacker Lassoued not only had been denied asylum in Europe but was also the subject of an extradition request by his native Tunisia because he had escaped from prison there. He had been serving 26 years for attempted murder and other crimes.
Having escaped, Abdesalem Lassoued posed as a refugee and travelled to Europe on a small boat and evaded several deportation attempts, including one launched after authorities became suspicious that he was becoming a radicalised Muslim. Lassoued reportedly lived in Italy, Norway, Sweden and Belgium during his time in Europe.
The Belgian Justice Minister resigned last week over his failure to deport Lassoued, saying while the decision had not been personally taken by him he nevertheless bore ultimate responsibility for the activities of those inside his government department.
Brussels Islamist Shooter Illegally Entered Europe by Migrant Boat, Avoided Multiple Deportation Attemptshttps://t.co/1dQNvfKxo0
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) October 20, 2023
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