The IS-linked Amaq Agency said one of the group’s “soldiers” carried out the attack “in response to calls to target citizens” of countries which have joined a US-led coalition bombing the jihadists in Syria and Iraq.
Advertisement
Saturday afternoon’s attack outside the main police station in the city of Charleroi, around 60 kilometers south of Brussels, left one of the policewomen with “deep wounds to the face” while the other was slightly injured, Belga news agency said.
The assailant, who was fatally shot during the attack, was identified Sunday by the authorities as a 33-year-old Algerian man who had been living in Belgium illegally since 2012.
The attacker, who shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) during the assault, was shot by police and died of his injuries in hospital.
He was carrying a rucksack but no explosives or other weapons were found. Two properties around Charleroi were searched overnight. Following standard practice, prosecutors did not name the attacker but gave his initials as KB.
“We have been informed by the federal prosecution that an inquiry had immediately begun for attempted terrorist murder”, Michel said at a press conference, posted online by broadcaster RTBF.
The local prosecutor in Charleroi handed the case to the federal authorities “as there are indications that the attack could have been inspired by terrorist motives”, the statement said.
Charleroi police said the attacker was killed while the two victims were out of danger. Many of those who carried out attacks in Paris last November, which killed 130 people, were based in Belgium.
“We maintain cool heads and blood”, added the premier, who said unspecified measures would be taken to bolster security for police while noting that Belgium was confronting a similar threat to that faced by its European neighbors.
On Sunday, Charleroi police posted a request on their Twitter account asking reporters not to divulge officers’ identities.
Advertisement
On June 27, Belgium deployed six F-16s to the Middle East for a year as part of the USA -led coalition, with orders to strike Islamic State targets while operating in Syrian and Iraqi airspace, the Belgian Defense Ministry announced at the time. Until returning home in July 2015, Belgium F-16s took part in earlier anti-IS missions over Iraq.
