Two policemen injured in Brussels stabbing in suspected terror attack

A knife-wielding assailant on Wednesday stabbed two policemen during an identity check, media reported.

Police then shot the suspect in the leg and arrested the yet unnamed individual, the Telegraph.Uk reported.

The assailant attacked the officers on a busy main road in Schaerbeek, a neighbourhood of Brussels where the terrorists behind the airport and metro attacks of March 22 had set up their bomb-making factory in which 32 persons were killed and around 300 injured.

The prosecutor's office confirmed that the man stabbed one of the police officers in the stomach and the other in the neck though neither was seriously hurt.

After the attack, the assailant tried to flee the scene but was spotted by another police patrol which opened fire to "neutralise" the man.

"He was injured by a gun shot to the leg," said the Brussels federal prosecutor's office.

While the assailant said nothing during the attack, the prosecutor's office said that it had "reason to believe this was a terrorist attack".

The assault came hours after the Brussels Gare du Nord train station was evacuated following a bomb scare sparked by an anonymous phone call.

Police combed the station buildings for hours, causing major delays, but found "nothing untoward".

The station was re-opened at around 3.00 p.m local time.

Wednesday's knife attack came weeks after two other police officers were wounded in a machette attack in Charleroi by a man shouting "Allahu Akbar" before he was killed by security forces.

--IANS

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