The ongoing feud between drug gangs in the Belgian city of Antwerp has cost an 11-year-old girl her life. On Monday evening, unidentified perpetrators shot at a residential home, hitting the girl, who subsequently died in the hospital.
Antwerp Mayor Bart De Wever (N-VA) said on the Flemish current affairs programme Terzake:
This has all the hallmarks of yet another retaliation within the drug world … The family involved was known to us, there have been such incidents before. There is a drug war going on. Drug criminals are attacking the homes of other criminals. We have been experiencing this for months now. What I feared for a long time has happened: an innocent victim has died here, a child. This was bound to happen.
The perpetrators were targeting a residence in Nieuwdreef, a street in the Antwerp district of Merksem. Forensics show its garage door had been hit by bullets three times. Behind it, in what was presumably a makeshift kitchen, a microwave oven was hit, upon which it exploded.
According to Gazet van Antwerpen, some of the gunfire hit the girl directly. Attempts to resuscitate her at the scene proved fruitless, after which she was evacuated to the hospital. Once there, she succumbed to her wounds. Two other people sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
The residence was occupied by members of the El B. and El J. families, both known to operate within the illegal drug business. Son Mohamed El J., for example, is said to have been previously convicted in drug cases. The home is currently heavily guarded by police officers.
Gazet van Antwerpen also reports that the deceased girl is the niece of Othman E.B., one of the biggest cocaine smugglers Belgium has ever produced, according to authorities. Othman E.B. has issued a cryptic response from the United Arab Emirates’ capital of Dubai: “We will react, but not in a manner the mayor of Antwerp might suspect,” he said.
Mayor Bart De Wever fears a further escalation of the violence that has gripped what is gaining a reputation as Europe’s cocaine capital.
“The Netherlands have already learned: if there are [drug trade-related] deaths, more will follow,” he told VTM NIEUWS.
According to De Wever, the tragedy “can only serve as an impetus” to intensify efforts, which are needed “at both the national and international level” to combat drug violence. He has already held discussions on the issue with Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open Vld) but voiced disappointment with Belgium’s drug plan in its current form.
On Twitter, Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden (CD&V) called the incident a “terrible tragedy,” and said that the Belgian authorities will “do everything in our power to catch these ruthless criminals. Children have nothing to do with any drug war.”
The prosecutor’s office has yet to confirm whether the shooting is connected to the drug trade. While this is likely, the judicial investigation needs to establish the connection before making its pronouncement.
If that is the case, for Antwerp, it would be the latest in an already extensive list of drug-related violent incidents. Thus far, fatalities have, however, remained rare.
Following the latest shooting, Vlaams Belang has called for Antwerp’s city council to convene early. Council member Filip Dewinter said,
Hopefully this regrettable low point will make everyone, across party lines, realize that we need to step it up in the fight against the drug mafia. … Both the city council and the federal government must make this an absolute priority and enlist the help of the military.
Following last summer’s spate of violent incidents in the port city, the right-wing party floated the same idea.
