POLICE KILL KNIFE ATTACKER OUTSIDE ISRAELI EMBASSY IN BELGRADE

Serbian police said an unidentified attacker assaulted a guard with two knives outside Israel’s embassy in Belgrade shortly after midnight on Wednesday. The guard, a member of the Gendarmerie, killed the attacker and suffered light wounds, according to Interior Minister Ivica Dacic. Dacic said the attacker was a minor. He said the attacker shouted “Allahu Akbar” during the assault. Police have not identified the attacker.

Dacic said police were treating the assault as a “terrorist attack”. He said Serbia had raised its terror threat to the highest level and increased police presence at key locations. According to Dacic, security agencies had monitored the attacker before the assault. Dacic described the attacker as a supporter of the Islamic State group. He said the attacker had displayed a black flag in support of the group on Instagram.

The assault followed an attack at the same embassy in June 2024, when a man with a crossbow wounded a Serbian police officer guarding the building. A guard shot and killed that attacker. Serbia held an early parliamentary election on Sunday after nearly two years of protests against former President Aleksandar Vucic, and a new government has yet to be formed. Israel held a parliamentary election on Tuesday; exit polls indicated that it had produced no clear winner.