Suspected Islamist shoots guard at Israeli embassy in Serbia in neck with arrow, shot dead

A local security guard of the Israeli embassy in Serbia killed a man who attacked him with a bow and arrow. The man was identified as Salahudin Zujovic, Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic revealed late Saturday.

Zujovic was from central Serbia and had converted to Islam from Serbian Orthodox Christianity. He said he had worked with an accomplice who remained at large.

"We are looking for another person," Vucic told reporters after visiting the wounded policeman. "We will secure all diplomatic missions and also guarantee safety and security."

The pair were being tracked by Serbian security agencies prior to Saturday's attack but there was not enough evidence to detain them, Vucic added.

"There is no doubt - this is a terrorist act against the government of Serbia," Serbia's deputy prime minister and interior minister, Ivica Dacic, stated in response to the attack.

In response to the attack, Israel's Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz expressed gratitude towards the Government of Serbia and those who quickly responded to the attack on X, formerly Twitter.

"I would like to thank the Government of Serbia and all those involved in the prompt response, for their strong support and cooperation following the attempted terror act on the Embassy of Israel in Belgrade today, during which a Serbian guard was injured by the terrorist. I would also like to send my wishes for a quick recovery to the injured guard." Katz added,"Terrorism cannot be tolerated!"

I would like to thank the Government of Serbia and all those involved in the prompt response, for their strong support and cooperation following the attempted terror act on the Embassy of Israel in Belgrade today, during which a Serbian guard was injured by the terrorist. I would…

— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) June 29, 2024

The police are on the scene, an investigation is underway, and the security of the embassy has been increased. A member of a military body engaged in policing activities in the country used a weapon in self-defense and shot the attacker, who died as a result of his wounds.

The guard was transferred to a hospital

Dacic announced on Saturday around 11:00 a.m. that an unknown person fired a bow at the gendarmerie officer who was on duty to secure the Israeli embassy.

"The 34-year-old policeman used a weapon in self-defense and neutralized the assailant, who died as a result of his wounds," Dacic reported. "The policeman was transferred to an emergency center conscious, where surgery will be performed to remove the arrow from his neck. All the circumstances of the attack and possible motives are being investigated." 

"Today, an attempted attack took place in the vicinity of the Israeli embassy in Belgrade. The embassy is closed, and not a single employee of the embassy was wounded. A local police officer was wounded. The circumstances of the incident are being investigated," Israel's Foreign Affairs Ministry said in response to the attack.

The wounded security guard has been taken to the hospital to have the arrow removed from his neck and is conscious. 

Upon the attack, the gendarmerie officer reacted immediately, took out his gun, and, as best he could until he fell, fired several shots at the attacker, Dacic said. The death of the attacker was determined after half an hour, and the gendarmerie was transferred to an emergency center for intensive care. The attack is under investigation. 

Dacic described how, before the shooting, the man approached the security guard several times and asked him questions.

The attacker asked the guard where the museum was, and the guard replied that there was no museum. When he returned again, he took out a bow, arrows, [and] arrowheads from a bag and shot and hit the neck of the guard, according to Dacic. The identity of the attacker remains unknown.

Police investigators in white forensic suits surrounded the body of the suspect on the street outside the building, which was swarmed with police vehicles.

"We arrested several people who were near the police facilities as a precaution, and we are checking to see if they have anything to do with the case," Dacic revealed. "There are some indications that these are known people to the security services, on behalf of the Wahhabi movement - but this is not confirmed information yet."

The Wahhabi movement is a militant Islamist movement. In 2009, a Serbian court sentenced four Muslims, followers of the puritanical Sunni Wahhabi sect, to prison for plotting to attack a football stadium in a southern town of Novi Pazar, the capital of Serbia's Sandzak region.