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Abdesalem Lassoued

Abdesalem Lassoued (1 September 1978 - 17 October 2023) was a Tunisian-Belgian Islamic State extremist who, on 16 October 2023, murdered two Swedish tourists in Molenbeek, Brussels. Born in Tunisia, he was previously tried for acts of terrorism in his home country before emigrating to Belgium. There, he planned a revenge attack in retribution for Swedish far-right rabblerouser Rasmus Paludan's burning of Qurans that same year. During the UEFA Euro 2024 Qualifier match at Brussels' King Baudouin Stadium on 16 October 2023, Lassoued came across two Swedish soccer fans wearing Sweden men's national team shirts, identifying them as Swedes. At 19:15, Using an AR-15, Lassoued murdered the two Swedes as he shouted "Allahu akbar", causing the game to be called off at half time. In a video released after the attack, Lassoued claimed to be directly targeting Swedes and pledged allegiance to ISIL. The next morning, a bus driver reported to police that Lassoued had boarded his bus, forcing Lassoued to flee to a cafe in Schaerbeek, where another citizen recognized him and called the police. Police arrived and shot him, and he died at the hospital at 9:38 AM.

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