The perpetrator of Monday night's terror attack in Brussels may not have acted alone, with reports in various Belgian newspapers suggesting police may be searching for a second suspect.
The main suspect was shot during the police intervention after a key witness contacted the Brussels police shortly after 08:00 on Tuesday to report that he had spotted the alleged perpetrator of the attack in a cafe in Schaerbeek.
While the attacker died on Tuesday morning shortly before 10:00, another person is believed to be actively researched in the investigation into the attack on Monday evening, reports BX1. According to several sources, the person who took photos and videos of the attack is also wanted.
Speaking to VTM Nieuws, the Belgian Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden could not confirm if the perpetrator had been acting alone.
Police vans at the crime scene on the aftermath of a shooting in Boulevard d'Ypres, Brussels, Tuesday 17 October 2023. Two Swedish nationals were killed. Credit: Belga / James Arthur Gekiere
"It's important that we don't rule anything out too quickly. We are dealing with serious facts and the safety of the inhabitants of our country", she added. "The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office is doing its utmost to investigate all possible scenarios. As long as there is no clarification, no lead will be ruled out."
The Public Prosecutor's Office is investigating the possibility that the suspect acted with accomplices, but has not confirmed the information of a second suspect or the search for the person or people who filmed the attacks.
Suspect's sojourn in Sweden
The perpetrator of the attack in Brussels on Monday evening spent some time in Sweden, the Prime Minister of the Scandinavian country, Ulf Kristersson, told a press conference on Tuesday.
Belgium's Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, Nicole de Moor, had reported earlier on Tuesday that the suspect, Abdesalem L., had lodged an asylum application in Belgium in November 2019, which was rejected in October 2020. He then "disappeared off the radar".
According to the Swedish Prime Minister, the 45-year-old Tunisian had also spent some time in Sweden, but was not known to the police.
Sweden maintained its terrorist threat alert level on Tuesday despite this attack, according to the intelligence services (Säpo). The level had been raised to four on a scale of five on 17 August by the services, which had deemed that Sweden had become a "priority target" following a series of desecrations of the Koran on its soil.
