Belgian police officers injured in machete attack

A man wielding a machete and shouting 'Allahu Akbar' attacked two police officers outside a Belgian police station on Saturday.

The officers were injured in the attack in the city of Charleroi, with one of them suffering significant 'wounds to the face', according to reports.

Local police said a third officer then shot and wounded the perpetrator.

The force then tweeted: “Two police officers injured by machete in front of police by someone shouting Allah Akhkbar. Individual was shot but is alive.”  He later died in hospital.

The area around Boulevard Pierre Mainz, where the attack happened, has been sealed off.

Jan Jambon, minister for the interior and security, described the attack as a “vile act.”

Belgium has been on high security alert for months since suicide bombers struck Brussels airport and a subway station near the European Union's institutions on March 22, killing 32 people.

The attacks were claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group, which controls large areas of territory in Iraq and Syria and has claimed numerous terror attacks in
Europe in the last year.

Charleroi has often been associated with extremist gangs, especially as a place where weapons are kept.

Image: Belgian police officers stand guard outside the main police station after a machete-wielding man injured two female police officers before being shot in Charleroi, Belgium. Photograph: Francois Lenoir/Reuters