RTFri, 25 Aug 2017 20:55 UTC
© AFPThis screengrab shows police officials and a soldier looking at a man on the pavement in the city centre of Brussels on August 25, 2017, where a man is alleged to have attacked soldiers with a knife and was shot.
A knife wielding man has been shot in the center of the Belgian capital of Brussels after attacking a group of soldiers, Belgian prosecutors said.
The incident took place about 20:15 local time (18:15 GMT). Belgian prosecutors said that the attacker is alive but in critical condition.
The soldiers were lightly wounded in the attack. One was cut in the face, while the other suffered an injury to the hand.
"With the identity that we currently have it is a 30-year-old man who is not known for terrorist activities," a spokeswoman for the prosecution service said.
The attacker was known to police for his earlier involvement in "minor offenses," according to Flemish broadcaster VRT.
According to RTBF, the attacker was a Somalian man, who shouted "Allahu Akbar" during his assault.
Large numbers of police officers were deployed to the scene, which was cordoned off. The mayor of Brussels and the federal prosecutor also arrived at the scene.
The Belgian Prime Minister, Charles Michel, expressed "all our support to our soldiers" in a Twitter post. "Our security services stay vigilant and we monitor the situation closely," he said.
Comment: Update: Belgium launches twin probes into Brussels stab attack
Belgian prosecutors said they launched twin investigation after a knife-wielding man shouting "Allahu Akbar" attacked soldiers in Brussels. The assault is being treated as an act of terrorist.
The assailant attacked Belgian soldiers with a knife in central Brussels on Friday night, according to the Belgian authorities. The man shouted "Allahu Akbar" ('God is great' in Arabic) twice while carrying out the attack, according to Esther Natus, spokeswoman for the federal prosecutor's office.
Soldiers fatally shot the attacker following a close encounter. "One of the soldiers opened fire and hit the man twice. The man later died in the hospital as a result of his injuries," Natus added.
Later on Saturday, prosecutors announced that the first investigation will look at the incident itself, and the second inquiry will see if the soldier who shot the attacker acted appropriately, Reuters reports.
An autopsy was planned for Saturday, the prosecution service said in a statement, adding that prosecutors would make the final decision based on the results and a report by a ballistics expert.
According to the authorities, the 30-year-old man, identified as a Somali citizen, came to Belgium in 2004. Belgian Migration Minister Theo Francken said the man had been granted asylum in 2009 and obtained citizenship in 2015.
The man was not known to have any links to Islamist militancy, but had committed an act of assault and battery in February this year, prosecutors say.
The attack in central Brussels came shortly before two British police officers were attacked outside Buckingham Palace in London.
Police later said the man, in his mid-twenties, was "arrested by police after they spotted a weapon inside his car. The quick and brave actions of both officers meant that the suspect was detained very quickly," Detective Superintendent Guy Collings said on Friday.
Comment: Update: Belgium launches twin probes into Brussels stab attack