A minor has been killed after attacking a member of the Serbian Gendarmerie who was guarding the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said.
According to Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dačić, the attacker charged at the gendarmerie officer with two knives, shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great”). The officer then opened fire, killing the attacker.
The incident occurred around 12:15 a.m. on Wednesday, October 28.
Dačić described the incident as a terrorist attack and said the suspect had previously been under surveillance by security services. According to the information available so far, the suspect was a supporter of the terrorist group Islamic State (ISIS).
Following the incident, Serbia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs raised the terrorist threat level to the highest level, red. This means increased police presence and security checks at key locations throughout Serbia.
Serbian authorities have not yet publicly identified the attacker or released further details about the investigation.
“I want to reiterate that in the terrorist attack carried out tonight, a member of the Gendarmerie guarding the Israeli Embassy was slightly injured and subsequently neutralised the attacker. Although his identity has not yet been established, our service had been monitoring him, and it is known that he was a supporter of the Islamic State. His Instagram profile displayed the black flag and the symbol of the Islamic State,” Dačić said.
The Israeli Embassy in Belgrade has been targeted before. In June 2024, an attacker seriously wounded a gendarmerie officer guarding the embassy with a crossbow before being killed during a police operation.
