Serbian police shot dead a young man outside the Israeli embassy in Belgrade in the early hours of Wednesday after what the authorities called a “terrorist attack”.

Interior minister Ivica Dacic said the attacker ran at a police officer with two knives while shouting “Allahu Akbar”; the officer suffered a minor knife wound to the face and shot the man.

Dacic said the suspect was a minor and a Serbian citizen who was being monitored by the security services because he was “known to be a supporter of the Islamic State”.

Speaking to reporters outside the embassy, he said an investigation was under way; the security services said the suspect had posted a picture of the Islamic State flag on his Instagram account.

Dacic raised the country’s terrorism threat level to “red alert”, the highest level, which brings stricter security checks and a larger police presence.

Armed security personnel were seen standing guard outside the embassy on Wednesday morning.

Israel’s foreign ministry confirmed in a social media post that no embassy staff were hurt and that the mission was closed when the incident happened.

It is the second attack on the Israeli embassy in Belgrade in less than three years, for in June 2024, a man shot a police officer in the neck with a crossbow.

The officer survived and shot dead the attacker, who was identified as a Serbian man who had converted to Islam.