Policeman kills knife attacker outside Israeli embassy in Serbia

An attacker with two knives wounded a policeman guarding the Israeli embassy in Belgrade overnight, before the officer shot the assailant dead, Serbia's outgoing interior minister said on Wednesday.

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“One minor, of so far undetermined identity, who is reasonably suspected to be from (the western city of) Šabac, rushed at an officer of the Gendarmerie shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ and attacked him with two knives,” Ivica Dacic said in an emailed statement.

In a statement, the Belgrade-based Higher Public Prosecution Office said that an investigation showed that a black-clad unidentified individual opened the door of a guard house in front of the embassy and, armed with two knives, rushed at the policeman, identified only by the initials D.S.

"The unidentified person threw one knife in the direction of D.S., hitting him in the left cheek. After that, D.S. took out his service weapon and fired several shots at the attacker, killing him on the spot," it said, adding that the policeman's action was qualified as justified and in self-defence. The investigation was continuing, it said.

Dacic added that he had raised Serbia's security threat level to red, the highest, and that there would be an increased police presence at key locations.

It is the second such attack at the Israeli embassy in Belgrade in two years. In June 2024, an assailant shot a Serbian police officer in the neck with a crossbow.

The attack happened a day after Israelis went to the polls, with projected results showing the opposition bloc neck and neck with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's camp.

Serbia's student-led movement toppled longtime leader Aleksandar Vucic in an election on Sunday, but the outgoing administration remains in place in a caretaker role until the new government is formed.

(Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic, writing by Kirsten Donovan, editing by Andrew Heavens, William Maclean)

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