Brussels burns: Fourth shootout in 48 hours - citizens fear for security!

Brussels burns: Fourth shootout in 48 hours - citizens fear for security!

In a worrying wave of violence in Brussels, there was another shootout in which a person was killed. The incident occurred in the night of Friday in the district of Anderlecht, where the police are looking for the fleeting perpetrators. The mayor Fabrice Cumps described these acts of violence as a "war between gangs" that fight for the control of their areas. As the crown reported , the identity of the victim is still unclear. This was already the fourth shootout within just 48 hours in the Belgian capital, and the authorities see rival drug gangs as the main cause of ongoing violence.

background of the outbreaks of violence

The latest shootings can be found in a larger context of drug crime in Belgium, an important access point for cocaine in Europe. As ORF reported , the new government under Bart de Wever, a Flemish legal nationalist, sees a lot of pressure, immediate and effective measures. The government had made a promise to "zero tolerance policy" against drug gangs. In the last incident on Wednesday, which also took place in the Anderlecht district, two men were injured with quick -fire weapons during a change of shooting before flipping into a nearby metro station. The call of the Belgian drug commissioners Ine van Wymersch after a more determined combination of the drug mafia is further reinforced by these incidents.