Belgrade, Oct 28 (Reuters): An attacker with two knives wounded a policeman guarding the Israeli embassy in Belgrade overnight, before the officer shot the assailant dead, Serbia's outgoing interior minister Ivica Dacic said on Wednesday in an emailed statement reported by Reuters.
Source: Reuters via KELO-FM
"One minor, of so far undetermined identity, who is reasonably suspected to be from (the western city of) Sabac, rushed at an officer of the Gendarmerie shouting 'Allahu Akbar' and attacked him with two knives," Dacic said. The attacker was a minor; Awaaz Punjab is not naming or describing him beyond what officials have released, and his identity has not been established.
Source: Reuters via KELO-FM
The Belgrade-based Higher Public Prosecution Office said an investigation showed that a black-clad unidentified individual opened the door of a guard house in front of the embassy and, armed with two knives, rushed at the policeman, identified only by the initials D.S. "The unidentified person threw one knife in the direction of D.S., hitting him in the left cheek. After that, D.S. took out his service weapon and fired several shots at the attacker, killing him on the spot," it said, adding that the policeman's action was qualified as justified and in self-defence. The investigation was continuing, it said.
Source: Higher Public Prosecution Office, Belgrade, via Reuters
Serbian police said the attack happened just after midnight on Wednesday, and the officer suffered a minor knife wound to the face, the interior ministry said in a statement reported by Rapporteur. Euronews, reporting with the Associated Press, said the officer was lightly wounded and shot the attacker dead in self-defence.
Source: Rapporteur (interior ministry statement)
Threat level raised to red
Dacic described the incident as a suspected terrorist attack and raised Serbia's security threat level to red, the highest, with tighter security checks and an increased police presence at key locations and places where large crowds gather, Euronews and Rapporteur reported. Dacic said security services had been monitoring the suspect, whom he described as a supporter of the Islamic State group, and said the suspect's Instagram profile featured a black flag and the Islamic State emblem — statements made by the minister, reported as his account.
Source: Euronews / Associated Press
Second attack at the embassy in two years
It is the second such attack at the Israeli embassy in Belgrade in two years. In June 2024, an assailant shot a Serbian police officer in the neck with a crossbow before being shot dead, Reuters reported.
Source: Reuters via KELO-FM
The attack happened a day after Israelis went to the polls, with projected results showing the opposition bloc neck and neck with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's camp, and days after Serbia's own parliamentary election, in which a student-led movement defeated longtime leader Aleksandar Vucic's camp on Sunday. The outgoing Serbian administration remains in place in a caretaker role until a new government is formed, Reuters reported.
Source: Reuters via KELO-FM
What is solid
- An attacker with two knives wounded a Gendarmerie officer outside the Israeli embassy in Belgrade overnight and was shot dead by the officer (Reuters; Higher Public Prosecution Office statement).
- Serbia raised its security threat level to red, the highest, after the attack (Interior Minister Ivica Dacic, via Reuters and Euronews/AP).
- Prosecutors qualified the officer's shooting as justified self-defence, and the investigation is continuing (Higher Public Prosecution Office).
What is only claimed
- Interior Minister Dacic's description of the suspect as an Islamic State supporter who had been monitored by security services — the minister's statements, not independently verified findings.
- The label of a suspected terrorist attack — Dacic's characterisation; no group has claimed responsibility in the reports checked.