Police officers check the identification of a man near the police headquarters in Charleroi, Belgium on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2016.
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The attacker arrived at a checkpoint outside the police station and immediately took a machete out of his bag before lunging at the officer, and repeatedly hacking at her head, witnesses said.
Paul Magnette, mayor of Charleroi, which is located about 35 miles south of Brussels, said the police checkpoint prevented the attacker from reaching the main building and causing more havoc.
Following Saturday’s attack on the police officers, Belgian officials are considering whether or not additional security measures should be taken, said Belgian Defense Minister Steven Vandeput.
One of the officers was hit in the face with the machete blade and must undergo surgery for non-life threatening injuries.
The man, who wounded two officers in the southern city of Charleroi, was named only as as “K.B”. Last week, Belgian police arrested and indicted a terrorist suspect who was alleged to have been plotting an attack in Belgium. That includes several directly linked to the November attacks in Paris.
Broadcaster VRT said Liege police had cordoned off an area before detaining the man.
“Initial indications clearly point towards terrorism”, Prime Minister Charles Michel told the television channel RTL. Thoughts are with the victims, their relatives and the police. “We are following the situation closely”, he said. Those attacks were claimed by the Islamic State.
Prosecutors searched two houses in Charleroi after the attack but did not provide details.
Belgium has been on high alert since the March 22 suicide bombings claimed by ISIS extremists that killed 32 people in Brussels.
“We have been informed by federal prosecutors that an investigation has started for attempted terrorist murder”, Michel told reporters.
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Security was ratcheted up further for Belgium’s July 21 national day celebrations after a truck attack that killed 85 people in the French city of Nice on Bastille Day, July 14.
