Man attacks soldiers with knife, shot dead
The man was hit and died shortly afterwards in hospital from his wounds, the prosecutors' statement said.
A man wielding a knife has been shot dead after wounding a soldier in Brussels in an “attempted terrorist murder”.
Belgian prosecutors said the attacker yelled “Allahu akbar” (God is greatest) during the assault before being shot by a soldier in the centre of city which has been on high alert since last year’s carnage at the airport and on the metro.
Overnight, police raided the suspect’s home in Bruges, northwest Belgium, with federal prosecutors opening an investigation into “attempted terrorist murder”, a statement said.
During the attack near the Grand Place in central Brussels, the man rushed at several soldiers from behind and struck them with a knife, prompting one of them to open fire.
“The man was hit and died shortly afterwards in hospital from his wounds,” the prosecutors’ statement said. As well as the knife, police found a replica gun and two copies of the Quran on him.
The assailant was a Belgian national of Somali origin who was born in 1987, authorities said. He arrived in the country in 2004 and was granted Belgian nationality in 2015. He was not known for any terror-related activities.