Deadly Attack On Israeli Embassy By Crossbow-Armed Terrorist
A bizarre attack on Israel's embassy in the Serbian capital of Belgrade has unfolded Saturday, and ended in the death of the attacker, and a wounded security guard now fighting for his life.
Serbia's interior ministry is calling the incident a terrorist attack which involved a man armed with a crossbow shooting a police officer, wounding him in the neck, before the officer shot the assailant dead. Authorities are in the aftermath looking at links to Islamic extremism.
The Serbian government statement indicated the officer who had been protecting the embassy "used a weapon in self-defense to shoot the attacker, who died as a result of his injuries."
A bolt was fired from the crossbow, and lodged in the officer's neck. He was still conscious but described as in life-threatening condition upon being transported to the hospital.
Authorities are describing that the assault was likely motivated by Islamic terror. According to a statement:
“There are some indications that [those arrested] are already known to security services and we are talking about the Wahhabi organization, but that is not confirmed,” Dačić said, referring to a strict school of Islam.
The officer was in a guard house and the attacker had approached him several times asking him where a museum was. He carried a bag from which at one point he took the crossbow and shot the guard, Dačić said.
Serbia has maintained close relations with Israel and has even been supplying weapons to Tel Aviv throughout the course of the ongoing Gaza operations.
For example, Middle East Eye has documented:
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz and Balkan Insight recently revealed that Belgrade was still exporting large volumes of weapons and ammunition to Israel, and ramped up exports this year amid the current war on Gaza.
Both publications reported that Serbia exported at least €16.3m ($17.1m) worth of weapons to Israel through Israeli military planes as well as some civilian aircraft using Greek airspace, possibly also carrying crucial 155mm artillery rounds, produced by the Serbian state company Krusik.
#Serbia / #Israel 🇷🇸🇮🇱: An attacker, who attacked a police officer guarding the Israeli embassy in #Belgrade, was shot and killed by the Security Forces.
— War Noir (@war_noir) June 29, 2024
The perpetrator was seemingly armed with a PSE Viper SS pistol handheld crossbow and a knife. pic.twitter.com/H6wfSVuJ5i
Israeli officials have meanwhile feared that the longer the Gaza operation persists, the greater chance of Israeli embassies and consulates abroad coming under physical attack.
Already there have been been major anti-Israel protests throughout the world, including in front of consulates abroad. However, this is the first time a weapon like a crossbow has been used and resulted in a live fire incident.