The man had shouted “Allahu Akbar” just before the attack, as religious extremists usually do.
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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.
The assailant, who was shot by a third officer, died in hospital.
The federal prosecutor’s office identified the attacker as a 33-year-old Algerian national who had been living in Belgium since 2012. Following standard practice, prosecutors did not name the attacker but gave his initials as KB.
In a statement, prosecutors said two searches had been made in the neighbourhood where the attack happened. Michel didn’t directly confirm the reports.
Francken said Belgium has struggled to conclude a return agreement with Algeria so that such people can be sent home, even though it does have one with Morocco. Prosecutors said he was known to police, but not for terrorism. One of them had to be operated on again today, because a nerve was hit. Michel cut short his vacation in the south of France following the Charleroi attack, which had some police unions clamoring for greater protection for police officers and installations. “That’s the trap that has been set for us”.
In March’s Brussels attacks, three men of North African descent carried out a triple suicide bombing on Brussels airport and the Maalbeek metro station, leaving 32 dead.
Many of those who carried out attacks in Paris in November, which killed 130 people, were based in Belgium.
“We know we must be constantly, constantly vigilant”, Michel said.
Also on Sunday, Belgian police arrested a man with a machete following a separate incident in the eastern city of Liege.
On Sunday, Charleroi police posted a request on their Twitter account asking reporters not to divulge officers’ identities.
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“We are targets”, Charleroi police explained. The assailant wasn’t carrying explosives or any other weapon, and while he was known to authorities over his visa infractions, he wasn’t known to have any terror links, federal authorities said. The interior ministry said that about 457 Belgians had gone or tried to join militants in the Middle East.
