BRUSSELS (AFP) – Belgian authorities said one person was injured yesterday in a drug-related shooting in Brussels, close to where a similar incident a day earlier sparked a manhunt.
Local officials told Belgian media that the latest shooting happened at around 3.30am (0230GMT) near the Clemenceau metro station, leaving one person wounded in the leg.
Two gunmen set off a manhunt near Clemenceau on Wednesday before after shooting off automatic rifles as early-morning commuters headed to work.
Those suspects were still at large.
Brussels prosecutor Julien Moinil told local radio that the spate of shootings – with three overall in the city in 24 hours – appeared linked to turf wars between rival drug gangs.
Moinil said that one of the incidents had left a bullet hole in a nearby child’s bedroom.
Brussels has seen an increase in gun crime linked to disputes between rival drug gangs in the city.
Local media citing police figures say that there were 89 shooting incidents, killing nine people, in the city last year.
Perched on the northwestern coast of the European mainland, Belgium has become a key hub for criminal gangs smuggling narcotics into the continent.
