Swedes living abroad have been urged by their country's Foreign Ministry to "exercise increased caution and vigilance" following the terror attack in Brussels on Monday night.
In a statement posted on the Ministry's website on Tuesday, Sweden also encouraged its citizens to heed local authorities' advice and to download the Government's UD Resklar application, which provides up-to-date information about the security situations in countries all around the world.
On Tuesday, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson similarly urged Swedes to "increase [their] security" but also encouraged them "not to hide". "Swedes should always be able to be open with their identity," he added. "It's our way of life."
Terror in the European capital
The Ministry's statement follows Monday's brutal attack, in which two Swedish football fans were shot and killed and a taxi driver severely injured on Boulevard d'Ypres near Place Sainctelette: just a 20-minute walk from the Grand Place.
Video footage posted on social media shows a man – whom Belgian officials subsequently identified as 45-year-old Tunisian national Abdeslam Lassoued – shooting a rifle at the victims and shouting Allah Akbar ("Allah is greater").
In another video later posted on social media, Lassoued professed his allegiance to the Islamic State and suggested that he attacked the victims because of their nationality.
"We live for our religion and we die for our religion," Lassoued said. "Alhamdulillah [Praise be to Allah]. Your brother took revenge in the name of Muslims. I have killed three Swedes so far, Alhamdulillah. Three Swedish, yes. Those to whom I have done something wrong, may they forgive me. And I forgive everyone."
Related News
- Security failings led to Brussels terror attack, minister claims
- Swedish Prime Minister travels to Brussels on Wednesday for terror victims
Lassoued later died after being shot in the chest following a police firefight at a café in Schaerbeek early on Tuesday morning.
Sweden had already been on heightened terror alert following repeated incidents of Koran burnings over the past few months that sparked anger and protests across much of the Muslim world.
The Swedish Foreign Ministry also implied that Lassoued's attacks may have constituted revenge for the burnings. "The attack appears to have been aimed at Sweden and Swedish interests," the Ministry wrote. "Our thoughts are with the deceased and their relatives."
Kristersson is set to travel to Brussels on Wednesday to attend a ceremony commemorating the attack's victims.
