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Belgian police detained 12 people and made an arrest on Sunday after Morocco’s win over Belgium in the World Cup match in Qatar initiated riots in Brussels. Rioters set a car and some electric scooters on fire.
Moroccan migrants who had inhabited Belgium celebrated their team’s victory by violently rioting. One-third of the country’s population is of foreign origin; in Brussels, Belgians are the minority.
Riots broke out in several places across the Belgian capital where dozens of soccer fans, some draped in Moroccan flags. Police retaliated against rioters with water cannons and tear gas.
Police spokesperson Ilse Van de Keere said, “Around 7 p.m. calm returned and preventive patrols remain in place in the sectors concerned.”
“The rioters used pyrotechnic material, projectiles, sticks, and set fire on the public highway,” the police said. “Also, a journalist was injured in the face by fireworks. It is for these reasons that it was decided to proceed with police intervention, with the deployment of water cannon and the use of tear gas,” the police said.
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