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Crossbow-Wielding attacker wounds Police Officer outside Israeli Embassy in Serbia

29 June 2024 21:17 (UTC +04:00)

A suspect armed with a crossbow was shot dead outside the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia after he fired a bolt at a police officer, striking the officer in the neck, according to Serbian officials, APA reports citing

A spokesperson for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs identified the incident as an “attempted terrorist attack,” the Associated Press reported. The embassy was closed at the time of the assault and no embassy employees were injured, the spokesman added.

After the assailant fired a bolt at the officer, the officer then “used a weapon in self-defense to shoot the attacker, who died as a result of his injuries,” according to Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic.

The officer was transported to a local hospital where he will undergo surgery to have the bolt removed from his neck, Dacic said.

While Serbian officials are “still talking about possible motives,” Dacic said, “There are now all indications that the motives relate to terrorism. Because there is no other motive why someone would attack a gendarme outside the Israeli Embassy.”

While police arrested one person near the scene of the shooting, officials are investigating a possible network and ties with foreign terrorist groups and the identity of the attack remained unknown.

“There are indications that those are individuals already known to the security services … the Wahhabi movement,” Dacic said. “But this still has not been confirmed.”