Man shot dead in Brussels after he attacks soldiers with knife, shouts Allahu Akbar
The two wounded soldiers are out of danger, said reports.
Following close on the heels of the Barcelona attack, the incident is being treated as a terror attack, said Belgium's federal prosecutor's office.
While the attacker was "not known for terrorist activities previously, he attacked the soldiers on patrol yelling "Allahu Akbar" ( Arabic for God is Greatest).
Belgium witnessed one of the worst terror strikes in March 2016 when a coordinated strike at the airport and a metro station killed at least 31 people and injured over 300.
Prime Minister Charles Michel tweeted: "Incident in # Brussels. Soldiers have neutralized individuals. Situation under control.
"All our support for our military. Our security services remain attentive. We monitor the situation closely."
Incident in #Brussel. Militairen hebben individu geneutraliseerd. Situatie onder controle.
— CrisisCenter Belgium (@CrisiscenterBE) August 25, 2017
Crisis Center Belgium said in a media release that there is a continuous follow-up after the terrorist act.
"Following the incident in the center of Brussels on the evening of Friday, 25 August 2017, a coordination meeting was held at the Crisis Center. This incident is considered a terrorist act. The investigation is in the hands of the Federal Prosecutor's Office," it said.
#Bruxelles Suivi continu après cet acte terroriste. https://t.co/1fIVtloyx2 Nos pensées vont aux militaires blessés. Merci. #UnitedWeStand
— CrisisCenter Belgium (@CrisiscenterBE) August 25, 2017
"During the terrorist attack, two soldiers were wounded. The attacker was neutralized by the military and died as a result of his injuries."
It said the threat now is serious and taken as such by all security authorities and services.
Meanwhile, following the Barcelona attack, the Mayor of Venice said anyone shouting Allahu Akbar would be treated as potential terrorists and be shot dead on four paces.
"Anyone who shouts Allahu Akbar in St Mark's Square can expect to be gunned down by snipers within four paces," said Luigi Brugnaro, mayor of Venice.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.