An unidentified attacker armed with two knives assaulted a Serbian police officer guarding the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade shortly after midnight Wednesday, before being shot dead by the officer, Serbian authorities said.
Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said the assailant was believed to be a minor whose identity had not yet been established. According to Dacic, the attacker shouted "Allahu Akbar" before lunging at the officer with two knives. The officer returned fire, killing the assailant, and sustained minor injuries during the confrontation.
Serbian security forces outside the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade following a previous attempted attack in June 2024
(Photo: AP /Marko Drobnjakovic)
Dacic said Serbian police were treating the incident as a terrorist attack and had raised the country's terror threat level to its highest setting. Authorities also increased police deployments and tightened security at key locations following the attack.
The incident follows an earlier attack outside the same embassy in June 2024, when a man armed with a crossbow wounded a Serbian police officer guarding the diplomatic mission. The officer returned fire and killed the attacker. Serbian authorities also classified that incident as terrorism.