Shortly past midnight Wednesday, an elite-unit police officer stationed at the Israeli Embassy located in Serbia's capital was attacked by an assailant armed with knives who was subsequently killed, AP reported, citing police.
Describing the episode as a "terrorist attack," Ivica Dacic, the interior minister, said, according to AP, that the terror threat had been lifted to its top tier and that police were out in greater force at key locations.
According to the minister, the attacker, a minor, carried two knives and charged at the Gendarmerie member to the cry of Allahu Akbar, or "God is great" in Arabic. Left with a minor facial wound, the officer killed the attacker in self-defense, Dacic added.
Cordoned off with police tape, the area around the guard booth just outside the embassy was ringed by fully equipped officers, according to police images of the scene.
Sabac, a town in western Serbia, is thought to be the attacker's home, Dacic said.
A follower of the extremist group Islamic State, the attacker had been under surveillance by Serbian security agencies, Dacic said, adding that "he kept the black flag in support of the Islamic State on his Instagram" account.
Only days before Wednesday's attack, on Sunday, Serbia held a pivotal early parliamentary election. At the ballot box, a youth-led movement beat Aleksandar Vucic, the longtime leader and former president, following close to two years of street demonstrations against him. Even so, the police remain under the control of Vucic and those allied with him until a new government takes shape.
Exit polls indicated that Israel's own parliamentary vote on Tuesday yielded no clear winner.
A similar attack struck the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade in June 2024, when a crossbow-wielding assailant injured an officer of Serbia's police who was posted at the Israeli Embassy; the officer shot and killed the attacker.
Located in a well-heeled district of Belgrade, close to the US Embassy, the Israeli Embassy is protected by a elite police unit whose officers carry automatic weapons.
On the diplomatic front, Serbia has kept close ties with Israel, AP noted.
