A man has been shot dead by police at Israel's embassy in Serbia's capital Belgrad. He was shot after attacking the police with a crossbow, in what is described from an Israeli perspective as an attempted terrorist attack.
The person "shot a police officer who was on duty to secure the Israeli embassy with a crossbow and hit the officer in the neck", says Serbia's Interior Minister Ivica Dacic in a statement.
He adds that the police shot the man in self-defense, who later died.
Authorities report that arrests have been made for "preventive reasons" and several people are suspected of having connections to the attack.
The injured police officer, who is 34 years old, was conscious when he was taken to hospital. He has been operated on and his situation is described as stable.
Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic, who has visited the injured police officer at the hospital, promises tough measures against "terrorists".
We are chasing them, he said.
According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, it is an attempted terrorist attack. Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz writes on X and thanks the Serbian authorities for their "strong support and cooperation after the attempted terrorist attack on the Israeli embassy in Belgrad today".
Ivica Dacic also states that there are indications that individuals with suspected connections to Wahhabism – an ultra-conservative branch of Islam that dominates in Saudi Arabia – are linked to the attack. However, the information has not been confirmed.
