Belgian Police Arrest Man With Machete in Liege

BRUSSELS (Reuters) —
Belgium police officers patrol the Grand Place in central Brussels, Belgium, Tuesday. The lockdown has closed the capital’s subways and schools. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Belgium police officers in central Brussels, Belgium. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Belgian police arrested a man with a machete in the eastern city of Liege, broadcaster VRT reported on Sunday.

The arrest came the day after a machete-wielding assailant attacked and injured two female police officers in the southern city of Charleroi before being shot dead by another officer, in what the prime minister has said appeared to be a terrorist act.

VRT said Liege police received a call in the early hours of Sunday, and cordoned off an area before arresting the man. It said he was of Turkish origin, did not use the machete and was not previously known to the police.

Belgium is increasing security at police stations after Saturday’s attack in Charleroi, Prime Minister Charles Michel told a press conference on Sunday.

The Charleroi assailant, who shouted “All-hu Akbar,” was shot after attacking the officers outside the police headquarters, and subsequently died of his wounds. Public prosecutors have yet to release his identity.

Islamist bombers killed 32 people in suicide attacks at Brussels airport and a metro station in March. Many of those who carried out attacks in Paris in November, which killed 130 people, were based in Belgium.

Belgium and its capital Brussels, which houses European Union institutions and the headquarters of NATO, are currently on a security alert level of three out of a maximum four, denoting a “possible and probable” threat.

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