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Brussels Suburb Mayor Slams Gang Explosions as 'Terrorism'
(MENAFN) The mayor of a Brussels suburb has sounded the alarm over a surge of gang-linked explosions rocking the EU capital this week, denouncing the violence as "terrorism" and demanding urgent state intervention to restore order.
No fewer than five blasts have rattled Saint-Gilles — a lively Brussels district that doubles as home to a significant number of EU officials — over the course of just days.
The most recent detonation struck shortly after midnight Saturday, outside a shisha bar on Rue Theodore Verhaegen near Barriere de Saint-Gilles. The blast tore through the establishment and damaged adjacent residences, with shockwaves shattering windows at a school directly across the street. No casualties were reported.
Saint-Gilles Mayor Jean Spinette characterized the string of incidents as a "war between rival drug families," issuing an urgent appeal to Interior Minister Bernard Quintin to immediately deploy reinforcements to both the Brussels prosecutor's office and the federal judicial police to protect residents after dark.
"This is escalating uncontrollably, with shootings and explosions occurring back-to-back. It's a real scourge for the municipality," he said, as quoted by local media. Spinette branded the strike on the school "shocking," framing the broader crisis as "serious organized crime" fuelled by rival factions locked in a brutal struggle for territorial dominance.
"Spreading fear to gain territory – that's called terrorism," he added.
The violence lands against an already alarming backdrop. Brussels has earned the grim distinction of ranking among Europe's most gun-afflicted capitals, logging 96 firearms incidents throughout 2025. The opening quarter of 2026 alone recorded at least 22 shootings, leaving multiple people wounded and one dead.
Public prosecutor Julien Moinil had previously sounded his own warning, cautioning that "every Brussels resident and every citizen can be hit by a stray bullet" and calling for a sweeping, coordinated offensive against criminal networks operating in the city. Federal authorities have since floated a package of countermeasures, including heightened patrols and wider surveillance coverage across known drug hotspots.
The unrest strikes at the symbolic heart of Europe. Brussels is home to the headquarters of the European Commission and is broadly considered the political capital of the EU — as well as the seat of NATO headquarters — lending the security breakdown an added layer of institutional gravity.
No fewer than five blasts have rattled Saint-Gilles — a lively Brussels district that doubles as home to a significant number of EU officials — over the course of just days.
The most recent detonation struck shortly after midnight Saturday, outside a shisha bar on Rue Theodore Verhaegen near Barriere de Saint-Gilles. The blast tore through the establishment and damaged adjacent residences, with shockwaves shattering windows at a school directly across the street. No casualties were reported.
Saint-Gilles Mayor Jean Spinette characterized the string of incidents as a "war between rival drug families," issuing an urgent appeal to Interior Minister Bernard Quintin to immediately deploy reinforcements to both the Brussels prosecutor's office and the federal judicial police to protect residents after dark.
"This is escalating uncontrollably, with shootings and explosions occurring back-to-back. It's a real scourge for the municipality," he said, as quoted by local media. Spinette branded the strike on the school "shocking," framing the broader crisis as "serious organized crime" fuelled by rival factions locked in a brutal struggle for territorial dominance.
"Spreading fear to gain territory – that's called terrorism," he added.
The violence lands against an already alarming backdrop. Brussels has earned the grim distinction of ranking among Europe's most gun-afflicted capitals, logging 96 firearms incidents throughout 2025. The opening quarter of 2026 alone recorded at least 22 shootings, leaving multiple people wounded and one dead.
Public prosecutor Julien Moinil had previously sounded his own warning, cautioning that "every Brussels resident and every citizen can be hit by a stray bullet" and calling for a sweeping, coordinated offensive against criminal networks operating in the city. Federal authorities have since floated a package of countermeasures, including heightened patrols and wider surveillance coverage across known drug hotspots.
The unrest strikes at the symbolic heart of Europe. Brussels is home to the headquarters of the European Commission and is broadly considered the political capital of the EU — as well as the seat of NATO headquarters — lending the security breakdown an added layer of institutional gravity.
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