In a shocking incident, a minor armed with a knife assaulted a security guard near the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade shortly after midnight. (Pic Credit: Reuters)
Serbian interior minister Ivica Dacic said authorities were investigating the incident as a “terrorist attack”. The government raised the terror threat level to its highest category and increased security at key locations across the country, according to the news agency AP. The attacker was a minor and was carrying two knives, according to Dacic. He allegedly shouted “Allahu Akbar”, meaning “God is great” in Arabic, while attacking a member of Serbia’s Gendarmerie guarding the embassy. The officer sustained a minor facial injury but managed to shoot and kill the assailant in self-defence, the minister said. Dacic said the attacker was believed to have come from Sabac, a town in western Serbia. “He kept the black flag in support of the Islamic State on his Instagram account,” Dacic said.
He added that security agencies had been monitoring the individual, whom he described as a supporter of the Islamic State group. A youth-led movement emerged as a major force in the election, although Vucic and his allies continue to control the police while the formation of a new government remains pending. A knife-wielding assailant was shot dead after attacking a security guard outside the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade shortly after midnight on Wednesday, Serbian police said. The incident occurred days after Serbia held an early parliamentary election on Sunday, following nearly two years of protests against former president Aleksandar Vucic and his long-standing political leadership.