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August 2017 Brussels attack

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August 2017 Brussels attack
Part ofIslamic terrorism in Europe
LocationBrussels,Belgium
Date25 August 2017(2017-08-25)
TargetBrussels police officers
Attack type
Stabbing
WeaponsMachete
Deaths1 (the attacker)[1]
Injured2
PerpetratorsHaashi Ayaanle
MotiveIslamic extremism

TheAugust 2017 Brussels attackoccurred near theGrand-Place/Grote Markt(main square) in Brussels, Belgium, on 25 August 2017, when two soldiers were injured by an assailant wielding a knife.[2][3][4]

Events[edit]

Since theParis attacks in 2015and the2016 Brussels bombings,soldiers have been on patrol in Brussels.[5]The New York Timesreported that Brussels had been "on edge" as a result of previous terrorist attacks,[6]andReutersreported that "1,200 soldiers patrol Belgium's main cities and the country is on its second highest threat level."[7]

The attack took place on the Boulevard Émile Jacqmain/Émile Jacqmainlaan, near Brussels' centralGrand-Place/Grote Markt,[8]and was being treated by Belgian authorities as a terrorist attack.[9][1][8]

The assailant was Haashi Ayaanle, a 30-year-old maleSomaliimmigrant born in 1987. Authorities say he was not known for terrorist activity. Ayaanle was shot and later died of his injuries in hospital.[1][10][11][12]He arrived in Belgium in 2004 and was granted Belgian citizenship in 2015.[13]Ayaanle lived in public housing inBruges,where the mayor declared the suspect showed no prior signs ofradicalization.[14][15]

A spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office said that the assailant shouted "Allahu Akbar"twice as he rushed the soldiers, attacking them from behind.[16][8][17]In addition to the large knife with which he attacked, Ayaanle was carrying a replica of a gun and a copy of theQuran.[2][16] The alleged assailant, Haashi Ayaanle, worked for Victor Buyck Steel Construction inEekloas a welder from 2013 until April 2017. He was let go by the company after an incident in April 2017 when he attempted to attack fellow workers with a screwdriver. Although Ayaanle's fellow workers asserted that there had been no motive for the attack, Ayaanle told his attorney that they were peeking at him in his home and taking clandestine photos of him, causing the lawyer to request a mental status examination and resulting in Ayaanle being voluntarily hospitalized at St. Jan psychiatric hospital in Eeklo. He was discharged after three weeks, with advice to continue taking his prescribed medication. He found work again for a short time, before falling out of contact, even with his attorney.[18][19]Ayaanle was reported as having been in contact with members of the Somali fundamentalist community.[20][21]

Reactions[edit]

TheAmaq News Agency,claimed that theIslamic Statewas responsible for the attack.[2][16][8]According to the Amaq statement, "the perpetrator of the stabbing operation in Brussels is one of the soldiers of the Islamic State, and he carried out the operation in response to appeals to target countries of the [US-led] coalition".[8]

The Belgian Secretary of Interior,Jan Jambon,praised the soldiers and the police.[22]

General Marc Thys, commander of Belgian land forces, said that "uniforms are a target" and that his forces would change tactics to adapt to the threat,[23][24]and later said the military expected to have to continue patrolling the streets until 2020.[25]

Europolclassified the incident asjihadist terrorismin its report about terrorism in Europe during 2017.[26]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^abc"Belgian soldiers shoot dead knife attacker in Brussels".Reuters.25 August 2017.Retrieved26 August2017.
  2. ^abcTelegraph Foreign Staff (27 August 2017)."Islamic State claims Brussels knife attack on soldiers".The Daily Telegraph.Retrieved30 August2017.
  3. ^Jack Hardy."Two police injured after knifeman attacks near Buckingham Palace".The Independent.Retrieved26 August2017.
  4. ^"Brussels attack: Man shot after stabbing soldier".BBC News.26 August 2017.Retrieved26 August2017.
  5. ^Germany, SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg."Großeinsatz nach Explosion: Soldat schießt Verdächtigen an Brüsseler Hauptbahnhof nieder - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Panorama".SPIEGEL ONLINE.Retrieved2017-06-20.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^STEVEN ERLANGER; MILAN SCHREUER."Belgian Soldiers Kill Knife-Wielding Man in Brussels".The New York Times.Retrieved26 August2017.Both London and Brussels have been on edge after terrorist assaults in both cities.
  7. ^Pascale Davies. (29 August 2017)."'Uniforms a target' Belgian General says after Brussels stabbing "(Transcript).Reuters.Retrieved2 September2017.1,200 soldiers patrol Belgium's main cities and the country is on its second highest threat level. Its security operation - known as 'operation vigilant guardian' was meant to be a temporary measure. But it is now entering its third year
  8. ^abcde"News 'Islamic State' claims Brussels machete attack".DW.26 August 2017.Retrieved30 August2017.
  9. ^Rankin, Jennifer (25 August 2017)."Man, 30, shot dead in Brussels after knife attack on two soldiers".The Guardian.Retrieved5 November2017.
  10. ^Grafton-Green, Patrick (25 August 2017)."Brussels attack: Man 'shouting Allahu Akbar' shot after attacking soldiers with machete".Evening Standard.Retrieved25 August2017.
  11. ^Kentish, Ben (25 August 2017)."Brussels machete attack suspect 'still alive' after being shot while stabbing soldiers".The Independent.Retrieved25 August2017.
  12. ^"Man, 30, shot in Brussels after knife attack on two soldiers".The Guardian.Reuters. 25 August 2017.Retrieved25 August2017.
  13. ^"Belgian of Somali origin staged Brussels knife attack: prosecutors".Yahoo News.Retrieved26 August2017.
  14. ^JULIEN BALBONI (27 August 2017)."Attentat de Bruxelles: l'intrigant profil de l'assaillant des militaires".La Libre(in French).Retrieved2 September2017.According to the bourgmestre of Bruges, Renaat Landuyt, Haashi Ayaanle had not been seen in his neighborhood of Bruges for four months. "There was no sign of radicalization on the part of the individual," Landuyt said.
  15. ^McCleary, Kelly (26 August 2017)."ISIS claims attack on soldiers in Brussels".CNN.Retrieved30 August2017.
  16. ^abcDeutrom, Rihan (28 August 2017)."Islamic State gloats as terrorist fear grips Europe".The Australian.Retrieved30 August2017.
  17. ^Greenfield, Daniel (6 September 2017)."A Bloody August – Global Terror Attacks Increase Amid Growing Fear".Jewish Voice.Archived fromthe originalon 8 September 2017.Retrieved8 September2017.
  18. ^""Brussels attacker didn't need to be sectioned"".29 August 2017.Retrieved8 September2017.
  19. ^Maeckelbergh, Bjorn (28 August 2017)."Aanvaller militairen ontsloeg zichzélf uit psychiatrie".HLN.Retrieved8 September2017.
  20. ^"L'assaillant de Bruxelles en contact" avec une cellule fondamentaliste somalienne "".7 Sur 7(in French). 28 August 2017.Retrieved2 September2017.Ayaanle Haashi, the individual who attacked soldiers with a knife in Brussels on Friday night, was in contact via the internet with the Somali fundamentalist milieu
  21. ^"Bruxelles: l'assaillant était en contact avec des islamistes".La Capitale(in French).Retrieved20 September2017.The name of the one who attacked three soldiers in the center of Brussels on the evening of Friday appears in the file of a Somali Islamic affiliate active in Europe.
  22. ^"Jambon:" Accused known for some crime, not for terrorism "".Het Laatste Nieuws(in Dutch). 26 August 2017.Retrieved16 September2017.The soldiers did what they had to do, "said Jambon." It is the duty of the soldiers and the police to protect the citizens and the institutions, they have done that perfectly, at risk for their own body and members. My respect is enormous.
  23. ^New Tactics to Protect Soldiers on Belgian Streets,Euro News, 29 Aug 2017
  24. ^'Uniforms a target' Belgian General says after Brussels stabbing,Reuters, 29 August 2017
  25. ^"Les militaires se préparent à rester dans les rues jusqu'en 2020".28 August 2017.
  26. ^European Union Terrorism Situation and Trend Report 2018 (TE SAT 2018)(PDF).Europol.2018. p. 24.ISBN978-92-95200-91-3.Archived fromthe originalon 20 June 2018.Retrieved23 June2018.
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