The man that stabbed a Belgian soldier Friday was reportedly a “soldier of the Islamic State,” according to the terrorist organization’s news agency.
The man, a Belgian citizen of Somali origin, rushed a group of soldiers near the Grand Palace in Brussels Friday evening. He shouted “Allahu Akbar” before stabbing one of the soldiers, at which point the others opened fire on the attacker. The 30-year-old man died on the way to the hospital.
While the man reportedly had no prior connection to terrorist activity before the attack, ISIS’ Amaq News Agency has claimed that he was a member of the global terrorist network, according to the SITE Intel Group, which monitors jihadi activity worldwide. Authorities are investigating the attack as “attempted terrorist murder.”
BREAKING: #ISIS 'Amaq Reports #Brussels #Belgium Knife Attacker is a 'Soldier of the Islamic State' https://t.co/bC3bOFMNG2 pic.twitter.com/9NDG3830ex
— SITE Intel Group (@siteintelgroup) August 26, 2017
“The executor of the stabbing operation in Brussels is a soldier of the Islamic State and carried out the operation in response to calls for attacks against coalition states,” the Amaq report explained.
Police found a knife, a replica firearm, and two copies of the Quran on his person.
Born in Somalia in 1987, the man relocated to Belgium in 2004 and became a Belgian citizen just two years ago.
The latest incident follows a stabbing in non-fatal stabbing spree in Russia, and a deadly attack in Spain that killed more than a dozen people and injured at least 100 others. The Islamic State claimed both attacks.
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