ISIS inspired terror attack hits Belgium and leaves two Swedes dead, suspect still at large.

 

Swedish soccer fans reacting to the attack. BBC/AFP.

An ISIS inspired terror attack has hit Belgium and left at least two people dead with the suspect still at large. BBC. The attack killed two Swedish tourists who were in town for a soccer match between Sweden and Belgium. A third person was injured in the shooting. The suspect was armed with a rifle and was filmed shooting people. A video was posted by the shooter on social media where he claimed he killed "three people" and that he did it in the name of Allah. As of this writing the attacker is still at large. 

BREAKING: A man who allegedly claimed to be an ISIS member has shot and killed 2 people in Brussels just days after former Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal called on Muslims to take action.

Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws claims the man used an automatic rifle and was avenging… pic.twitter.com/WmiWPGWwPz

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 16, 2023

My Comment: 

I don't think that this was directly a result of the Israel-Hamas war. This attack seems like it was a bit more sophisticated than the average lone wolf attacker. The attacker had what looked like a full auto rifle, which looked like it was an M-16 or M-4, and you can't just get those quickly in Europe. It's not difficult but you need money and connections to a gun dealer and that requires a bit of sophistication and planning. 

Given the war in Israel is not even 10 days old, I don't know if that is enough time to put an attack like this together. It's possible given all he needed was a rifle, some ammo and, apparently, a scooter, but my guess is that this was a longer term plan put into motion. 

I do think that it is significant that the attacker was using an M-4 or M-16 as opposed to an AK. In the past most European guns were AK models as they were left over from the various wars in Eastern Block countries, like Serbia. To see an M-16 derived rifle in an attack makes me think that this was smuggled into Western Europe from Ukraine, given the huge numbers of rifles we have sent them there and the huge amount of corruption happening there. It is no surprise that an American rifle ended up in the hands of a terrorist. 

It is also notable that this attacker was praising ISIS and not Hamas. That is not surprising since Hamas usually isn't one to launch attacks outside of the Middle East but ISIS certainly is. It's unclear how deeply involved ISIS was with this attack. Given how ISIS has lost pretty much all of their territory and are essentially a shell I don't she how much help they could have given this attacker. 

Still, I wouldn't be surprised if we do see a resurgence of terrorism. ISIS has certainly fallen off of the radar. They are absolutely no longer the number one target of the various intelligence agencies as most of the focus has been on Ukraine/Russia internationally and ordinary citizens domestically. That means that they had a chance to regroup without the fear of a drone strike.

We may see more of these attacks soon. Success breeds imitation and the Hamas attack in Israel will inspire terrorists across the world. So will this attack, which technically isn't over yet since the attacker hasn't been caught yet. ISIS may not have the ability to launch massive terror attacks like they used to and they are unlikely to reach the heights they reached between 2014 and 2016, but they will have no shortage of recruits.