{"id":138,"date":"2026-02-08T23:52:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T23:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/138\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T23:52:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T23:52:11","slug":"antwerp-mass-stabbing-six-injured-in-mass-attack-in-belgium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/138\/","title":{"rendered":"Antwerp mass stabbing: Six injured in mass attack in Belgium"},"content":{"rendered":"

A knife attack in Belgium has left six people wounded – with two victims now fighting for their lives in hospital.<\/p>\n

Violence erupted at Operaplein, a busy square in Antwerp, where approximately 50 protesters had gathered against violence towards Kurds in Syria last night.<\/p>\n

Police spokesman Wouter Bruyns confirmed four people were injured – all of whom suffered stab wounds.<\/p>\n

A further update from authorities stated: “They were all stabbed, and two victims are currently in critical condition.”<\/p>\n

Four casualties were discovered at the square itself, while two additional victims were found at nearby locations.<\/p>\n

The incident occurred at approximately 7.20pm as the gathering, thought to have been peaceful, was winding down.<\/p>\n

Officers had already been stationed at the square with a patrol vehicle to oversee the demonstration, which had remained calm throughout most of the evening.<\/p>\n

“It was peaceful and was just ending,” said an eyewitness.<\/p>\n

\"Police<\/p>\n

Police administered first aid to casualties before ambulances could arrive<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

X<\/p>\n

As protesters prepared to disperse, the situation turned violent without warning.<\/p>\n

Police on the scene intervened immediately when the stabbings began, administering first aid to casualties before ambulances could arrive.<\/p>\n

Multiple emergency medical teams were then dispatched to treat the wounded and take them to hospital.<\/p>\n

Two suspects were arrested by officers at the scene – with authorities now confirming an investigation has been launched.<\/p>\n

CRIME ON THE STREETS OF EUROPE – READ MORE:<\/p>\n

\"Crowds<\/p>\n

Footage on social media showed crowds fleeing the scene as violence broke out<\/p>\n

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X<\/p>\n

Images captured police forcing one of the suspects to the ground during the arrest, while further footage on social media showed crowds fleeing the scene as violence broke out.<\/p>\n

“People were running in every direction; it was pure chaos,” one witness said.<\/p>\n

Initial reports indicate the attackers had blended in with demonstrators before striking.<\/p>\n

Another onlooker described how a group walking past suddenly produced knives and began attacking individuals seated on the steps of the Opera House.<\/p>\n

\"Architects'<\/p>\n

PICTURED: Architects’ images of the newly-developed square outside the Opera House, where the attack unfolded<\/p>\n

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JPAM CITY MAKERS<\/p>\n

Navbel, a Kurdish community organisation in Belgium, said the attack was “an act of terror against Kurds”.<\/p>\n

“We expect the Belgian police and judiciary to view and treat this act as such,” a statement read. “This is no different from jihadists who specifically attack civilians in the streets, at Christmas markets, or other public places.<\/p>\n

“The facts the victims are Kurds, a powerless and ignore people, should not lead the Belgian authorities to characterise this act differently. They must not conceal this.<\/p>\n

“The Belgian Government must acknowledge that Kurds, even in Antwerp, are victims of hate speech and racist and jihadist-inspired violence.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A knife attack in Belgium has left six people wounded – with two victims now fighting for their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":139,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[19,146,69,144,143,145,142],"class_list":{"0":"post-138","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-antwerp","8":"tag-antwerp","9":"tag-crime","10":"tag-europe","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-sgg","13":"tag-terrorism","14":"tag-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}