Ivica Dacic declares 'red' terrorist threat level in Serbia after stabbing near Israeli embassy in Belgrade

Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic declared a "red" level of terrorist threat after a stabbing near the Israeli embassy in Belgrade, and ordered an immediate bolstering of police presence at sensitive sites.

Authorities say the suspect — reportedly a young man from Šabac — attacked a member of the Gendarmerie with two knives while shouting "Allahu Akbar." The attacker is described as a minor and had posted a photo with a black flag on Instagram, police officials said. An investigation is ongoing.

Speaking before announcing the highest alert level, Dacic warned that the probe is continuing and that more information would emerge overnight.

Measures and definition of the threat

"The investigation is, of course, ongoing and all details will be known during the night, but all of this requires me, as Minister of Interior who is responsible for this, to raise the level of terrorism to the highest possible level — or when a terrorist attack occurs on our territory, the level is raised to the 'red level'. What it practically means is that from the morning control will be strengthened and the presence of police forces will be increased in all places that are important because of infrastructure facilities and because of gatherings of larger numbers of citizens," Dacic said.

The declaration places checkpoints and visible patrols at infrastructure sites and locations where crowds gather, and tasks police units with stepped-up monitoring while investigators continue to reconstruct the events around the attack.

The Islamic State is a jihadist group that calls on Muslims around the world to pledge allegiance to its leader, Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai, known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Photo: press material from the event