ISIS claim responsibility for knife assault on two cops in Belgium and say machete-wielding attacker was their ‘soldier’
Attacker identified as 33-year-old Algerian man who was known to police for criminal offences but wasn't on a terror watchlist
ISIS have claimed responsibility for a machete attack in Belgium which two female police officers were wounded yesterday.
The terror group’s official media arm – Amaq News Agency – made the announcement that the assailant was a “soldier” of the group.
Amaq said the attack was “in response to calls to target citizens” belonging to countries in a US-led coalition bombing ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
The claim came as cops revealed the attacker – who was shot dead by officers – was a 33-year-old Algerian man.
Identified only as K.B., the man was known to police for criminal offences but was not on a terror watchlist.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office said also said today that two police searches had been carried out overnight around the Charleroi area.
The attack happened at 4pm yesterday afternoon outside a police station in the southern city.
Charleroi police spokesman David Quinaux said: “He immediately took a machete out of the sports bag he was carrying and violently struck at the faces of the two policewomen who were on guard duty, shouting 'Allahu akbar’.”
But Belgian PM Charles Michel was coy when asked about K.B.’s motive today.
He said: “We have been informed by federal prosecutors that an investigation has started for attempted terrorist murder... given certain elements (in the case).”
Both of the wounded officers are now “out of danger”, Charleroi police said late on Saturday.
A security cordon had been set up around Boulevard Pierre Mainz in the southern Belgian city as investigations continue.
Mr Michel, who returned from holiday to meet security officials on Sunday, condemned the attack.
He tweeted: “Thoughts go with the victims, their relatives and police officers," he wrote on Twitter as news of the stabbing broke.
“We are closely monitoring the situation.”
Charleroi has often been associated with extremist gangs, especially as a place where weapons are kept.
The ISIS unit which attacked Paris last November, killing 130 people in one night, is said to have picked up its AK47s and explosives in the city before heading for the French capital.
Belgium is currently on threat level three out of four, meaning a terrorist attack is “possible or probable”.
The country is the biggest EU exporter of homegrown terrorists travelling to fight for ISIS in Syria.
In March, three suicide bombers attacked Brussels Airport and Maalbeek metro station in the centre of the capital, killing 32 people.
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