Latest news One dead in shootout in district marked by drug violence
One person has been killed in a shooting in the Brussels district of Anderlecht, which is characterized by drug violence. According to the public prosecutor's office on Saturday, the shots were fired in the evening near the Clemenceau metro station.
16.02.2025, 04:23
SDA
The federal police have taken over the investigation. Only last week, there had been four shootings in Brussels with one fatality. People fled into subway tunnels in the early morning when two gunmen fired automatic rifles.
The mayor of Anderlecht, Fabrice Cumps, spoke on the RTBF radio station of a "war between gangs" who wanted to defend their turf. Three of the four night-time shootings so far have occurred in the district not far from Brussels South Station, where the international Eurostar trains depart.
There have been repeated operations against drug dealers in the district in the past. Belgium, with its container port of Antwerp, is considered one of the main gateways for cocaine and other drugs in Europe.
Politicians promise "zero tolerance"
The incidents in Brussels have put the new Belgian government under the Flemish right-wing nationalist and former Antwerp mayor Bart De Wever under pressure to act. It had promised a "zero tolerance policy" against drug gangs.
According to the police, there were 92 shootings in Brussels last year, in which nine people were killed and 48 others injured.
