ISIS fanatic who killed two Swedish football fans in Brussels was ‘never the same’ after seeing Koran burnings and asked his parents if they wanted him to become a martyr for jihad, his mother reveals

• Two Swedish football fans were shot dead in Brussels on Tuesday 
• The terror suspect allegedly spoke of carrying out ‘jihad’ before the shooting 

An illegal migrant ISIS fanatic who shot dead two football fans in Brussels allegedly spoke to parents about carrying out ‘jihad’. 

Known terror suspect Abdesalem Lassoued, 45, was killed by Belgian police after he killed two Swedish football fans with an automatic rifle on Tuesday. 

It has been detailed that Lassoued targeted the two Swedes in their 60s and 70s because of the burning of the Koran which took place in Stockholm in recent months. 

Abdesalem Lassoued, the mother of the suspected terrorist, told Tunisian television channel Hannibal her son had mentioned the Koran burnings in Sweden in phone calls. 

It is alleged he also spoke about carrying out ‘jihad’ and asked his father if he wanted his son to die as a martyr, according to Sveriges Radio.

Video shows Abdesalem Lassoued dressed in a fluorescent orange jacket and carrying a gun driving through the streets of Brussels on Tuesday

Local media named the suspect as 45-year-old Abdesalem Lassoued (pictured)

Pictured: Belgian police at the scene following an intensive manhunt for an ISIS fanatic who shot dead two Swedish football fans in Brussels with an automatic rifle in a terrorist attack

These stunts have provoked outrage in countries like Iraq, Iran (protesters pictured above) and Turkey

Police opened fire during the arrest of the terror suspect, a spokesman for the Belgian prosecutors’ service, Eric Van Duyse said

View of the crime scene on the aftermath of the shooting in Brussels on Tuesday, with blood seen on the white walls 

They reported that Abdesalem said her son was ‘never the same’ after the Koran burnings and that she and her husband were ‘shocked and sad’ about what happened. 

The terror suspect’s wife ‘Yasmina’, not her real name, fled with her daughter on Monday out of fear her husband would come home, taking refuge with the police and telling them all she could – before they shot down the Tunisian national on Tuesday morning.

An ambulance was later seen taking a wounded Lassoued to hospital, while his scooter he is said to have used to flee the terror attack, was towed away. 

The automatic rifle that Lassoued had used to kill the two Swedish football fans was also found on his person. 

Lassoued opened fire on a group of Swedish football fans in a taxi as they passed through Boulevard d’Ypres just a few minutes north of the city’s famous Grand Plaza ahead of Belgium’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Sweden.

Many Sweden fans at King Baudouin Stadium were tearful and clung to each other for support, while others checked their mobile phones for the latest information

A police van drives near the Eugene Verboekhovenplein in the Schaerbeek area of Brussels on where the suspected perpetrator of the attack in Brussels was shot during a police intervention in a cafe

The man is reported to have said he was avenging the stabbing of six-year-old US-Palestinian boy Wadea Al-Fayoume, who was knifed to death in Plainfield, Illinois, on Saturday morning

The shooting took place in  Boulevard d’Ypres just a few minutes north of the city’s famous Grand Plaza

Several people fled into an apartment building after hearing the gunshots, but Lassoued followed them and opened fire again in the entrance hall in an attack he said was to avenge the killing of a six-year-old US-Palestinian boy.

Disturbing video shows the attacker on a motorbike stalking people and shooting them, with other images circulating online showing the body of one person inside a taxi.

Dramatic video later appeared to show the gunman, who was dressed in a fluorescent orange jacket, fleeing on a motorbike while being tailed by a member of the public.

Prime Minister Alexander de Croo earlier said ‘the terrorist attack’ was ‘committed with total cowardice, the attacker chose as a target two Swedish football fans, adding that a third person – a taxi driver – was seriously wounded. 

‘Terrorism strikes indiscriminately,’ he said. ‘It aims to sow fear, mistrust and division in our free societies. Terrorists must know that they will never achieve their goals.

View of the crime scene on the aftermath of the shooting in Brussels on Tuesday

Police  at the site of a shooting incident in the Boulevard d’Ypres in Brussels

Belgian police and forensic examiners work at the scene of a shooting in the Boulevard d’Ypres

The suspected gunman claimed the attack was revenge for the killing of Wadea Al-Fayoume in the United States. The six-year-old’s funeral was held on Monday

Hundreds of people gather at the Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview, Illinois, for Wadea’s funeral on Monday

Forensic investigators at the scene in Brussels were two people were shot dead by the gunman

‘They will never make us bend. Their hatred and violence only prove their powerlessness.’

Sweden expressed its devastation over the shooting and European leaders were quick to offer their solidarity.

In response to the attack, Belgian authorities raised the terror alert for Brussels to level four or ‘very serious’ – the highest – and level three nationally. 

Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne said Lassoued, an asylum seeker, was convicted in Tunisia ‘for common law offences’, but was not reported for a terrorist risk. 

Players, fans and match officials observe a minute’s silence prior to match between Belgium and Sweden at King Baudouin Stadium

Sweden fans inside King Baudouin Stadium, where the match was suspended following the two killings

Swedish fans look to each other for support amid tense scenes inside King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels

A forensic examiner coombs the scene while Belgian police secure the area after a shooting in Brussels

Belgian police officers from the forensic service search for evidence in a street after two people were killed

Belgian police officers walk as they secure the area in Boulevard d’Ypres, close to the canal

Investigators search the scene left behind by a suspect who is on the run, the Belgian capital’s prosecutor’s office said

The attacker, who unsuccessfully sought asylum in Belgium in November 2019, was known to police in connection with people smuggling and illegal residence, Quickenborne added. 

Prosecutors said the attacker in his video had indicated the Swedish nationality of his victims was a motivation, but there appeared to be no links with the conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East.

In August, the Scandinavian country raised its terrorist alert to the second highest level, warning of an increase in threats against Swedish interests also abroad, after Koran burnings and other acts in Sweden against Islam’s holiest text outraged Muslims and triggered threats from jihadists.

The Swedish government has condemned the burnings and is considering amending laws that could stop them but critics say such moves need to preserve far-reaching freedom of speech.

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