‘Terrorist’ killed in attack on police near Israeli embassy in Serbia

June 29 (UPI) – An assailant shot a police officer in the neck with a crossbow, and the police officer shot the assailant dead outside the Israeli embassy in Belgrade, Serbia, on Friday evening.

The police officer suffered life-threatening injuries from a bolt gunshot wound to the neck and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

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Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic described the incident as a terrorist attack against Serbia, in which the Wahhabi movement of Islamist extremists may have been involved.

“Everything now indicates that the motives are of a terrorist nature,” Dacic told reporters.

A spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry spoke of an “attempted terrorist attack” and said the embassy was closed and no staff member was injured, the Washington Post reported.

The fatal incident occurred around 11 p.m. local time when a man standing near a small building asked the officer about a museum.

The man opened a door of the building, pulled out a crossbow and shot the officer in the neck.

The officer returned fire and hit the attacker, who died about half an hour later.

One man was arrested near the crime scene and others are being investigated for possible links to foreign terrorist organizations, he added.

Dacic said special prosecutors had taken over the case.