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Brussels police stabbing: Two officers attacked in possible terror incident in Belgium

Attacker also breaks nose of one officer before police shoot him in the leg

Samuel Osborne
Wednesday 05 October 2016 10:03 EDT
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Police officers investigate the scene where a man stabbed two police officers, in the Schaerbeek neighborhood in Brussels, Wednesday, 5 October, 2016
Police officers investigate the scene where a man stabbed two police officers, in the Schaerbeek neighborhood in Brussels, Wednesday, 5 October, 2016 (AP)

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Two Belgian police officers have been stabbed in a suspected terror attack, prosecutors have said.

A man stabbed one officer in the neck and the other in the abdomen af in the Brussels' neighborhood of Schaerbeek and then fled the scene.

The attacker was stopped by a second group of police.

He broke the nose of one officer, who shot him in the leg.

A knife lies on the ground at the scene where an unidentified man stabbed two police officers, in the Schaerbeek neighborhood in Brussels, Wednesday, 5 October, 2016
A knife lies on the ground at the scene where an unidentified man stabbed two police officers, in the Schaerbeek neighborhood in Brussels, Wednesday, 5 October, 2016 (AP)

He has been identified as Hicham D, a 43-year-old Belgian national.

The federal prosecutor's spokesman, Eric Van Der Sypt, said "we have reason to believe that it is terror-related."

He declined to provide additional details or explain why prosecutors think the attack was linked to terrorism.

The police officers injuries were not life threatening, the spokesman said.

A judge specialising in terrorism cases will decide how long the suspect will be detained for, he added.

The attack came after the Brussels Nord train station was evacuated following a anonymous bomb threat.

The statio nwas reopened around 3pm local time after police found "nothing untoward".

Belgium has been on high alert since 32 people were killed in suicide bombing attacks on the Brussels airport and metro on 2 March.

In August, a machete-wielding man shouting "Allahu Akbar" ("God is Great") attacked and seriously wounded two policewomen in the southern Belgian city of Mons. The assailant was shot dead.

The attack was later claimed by Isis, who also claimed to have carried out the Brussels suicide bombings.

On 7 September, a man carrying a knife attacked two police officers in the Molenbeek area of Brussels, but the officers were wearing bulletproof vests and suffered only bruises. The assailant said nothing during that attack and gave no indication of his motives.

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