Teenager killed after knife attack on Israeli embassy guard in Belgrade

A teenager shouting "Allahu Akbar" attacked a Serbian Gendarmerie officer guarding Israel's embassy in Belgrade with two knives shortly after midnight on Tuesday, and the officer killed him in self-defence, Interior Minister Ivica Dačić said.

The officer suffered a minor cut to the face but is in good condition, Dačić said after visiting him in hospital alongside police chief Dragan Vasiljević. He is expected to be released for home treatment.

Dačić said the attacker, whose identity has not been officially confirmed, was known to Serbia's security services as a supporter of the Islamic State group. He had posted the group's black flag and symbols on his Instagram profile, the minister said. The minister's account, including the detail about the attacker's suspected IS sympathies, was first carried by Serbian state broadcaster RTS, according to Makfax.

Police suspect the attacker was a minor from the town of Šabac, though this has not been officially confirmed. Dačić called the attack an act of terrorism carried out on Serbian territory, and said an investigation into its full circumstances was continuing, with more details expected to follow.

Following the attack, Serbia raised its terrorism threat level to red, the highest tier. The move means a larger presence of fully equipped police officers at locations with many people, such as shopping centres, railway and bus stations and airports, Dačić said.

Security around diplomatic missions was also strengthened, with stricter checks and searches carried out at key sites across the country, Dačić added. Police forces remained on high alert in the hours after the attack.

It is not the first attack on the Israeli embassy's security detail in Belgrade. In June 2024, a man attacked a Gendarmerie officer guarding the embassy with a crossbow, striking him in the neck; the officer killed that attacker too, in a similar act of self-defence.