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Man shot dead after attacking soldiers with machete in Brussels

A man has been shot dead in the centre of Brussels after attacking soldiers with a machete in a "...
Newstalk
Newstalk

09.47 26 Aug 2017


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Man shot dead after attacking...

Man shot dead after attacking soldiers with machete in Brussels

Newstalk
Newstalk

09.47 26 Aug 2017


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A man has been shot dead in the centre of Brussels after attacking soldiers with a machete in a "terror attack".

The soldiers opened fire on the man and the suspect was taken to hospital in a critical condition, but later died, prosecutors in Belgium said.

RTBF reported the suspect was a Somali man who is alleged to have shouted "Allahu Akbar" - God is great - before the attack.

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A spokeswoman for the prosecution service said: "With the identity that we currently have, it is a 30-year-old man who is not known for terrorist activities."

It added that the troops suffered slight injuries, one to the hand and the other to the face. The incident is being treated as a terror attack.

Images showed police had sealed off a main street near the main Grand Place tourist attraction.

Prime Minister Charles Michel tweeted: "All our support is with our soldiers. Our security services remain on alert. We are following the situation closely."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="fr" dir="ltr">Tout notre soutien à nos militaires. Nos services de sécurité restent attentifs. Nous suivons la situation de près avec <a href="https://twitter.com/CrisiscenterBE">@crisiscenterBe</a></p>&mdash; Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) <a href="https://twitter.com/CharlesMichel/status/901165037917794304">August 25, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Witness Freddie Martin said the suspect was resuscitated at the scene before being put into an ambulance.

Philip Close, Brussels mayor, said the alert status in the city would not be raised.

He said: "Initial indications are... that it is an isolated attack, a single person."

Brussels is on a heightened security threat level following attacks in Paris and the Belgian capital in 2015 and 2016.

Suicide bombers killed 32 people in attacks on the city's main airport and subway system on March 22nd 2016.


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