Last year, there were no less than 46 shootings in the Brussels Region, Het Nieuwsblad reports. There has been a rise in attacks using violent weapons in the last five years, especially with explosives.
“46 shooting with a total of three dead and 19 injured. It’s not pretty,” a law enforcement source said. There were also three incidents including grenades or Molotov cocktails reported in the capital. The number of incidents is a new record, police say. The statistics only include shootings between civilians, and not cases involving the police.
Three Brussels municipalities top the ranking for gun violence: the City of Brussels, Molenbeek, and Anderlecht each recorded 10 shootings last year. Four were reported in Saint-Gilles, three in Ixelles, and two in Saint-Josse.
“Five years ago, we didn’t even count half the number of current shootings,” said the chief of the Peterbos police district in Anderlecht. Police blame the increased violence on the rise in drug trafficking in Belgium, which has increased in Brussels just as much as in Antwerp.
Related News
The officer says that organised crime from Albania is becoming increasingly developed and powerful. The arrival of a new clan from Marseille has led to a new surge in violence. “This record will only last a year because the violence is increasing,” the police official warns.
This is already visible in official crime statistics. In the first three months of this year, there were 96 offences relating to illegal weapons in Brussels, accounting for a significant surge. There have also been seven deaths and more than 70 injuries relating to gun violence in the capital so far this year.
