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05.10.2016
BBC

Two police officers have been stabbed in Brussels in a possible terrorist incident, Belgian prosecutors say.

One officer was stabbed in the neck and another in the stomach, while a third officer who arrived at the scene in Schaerbeek district suffered a broken nose, Belgian broadcaster VRT reports.

The attacker was shot in the leg and taken away by ambulance.

Authorities have named the attacker as "Hicham D", 43, of Belgian nationality.

Belgian media report that Hicham D is known to Belgian police and is believed to have links to jihadists who travelled to Syria to fight. He also served as a Belgian army officer until 2009.

"We have reason to believe that the incident was a terrorist attack," a spokesman for the Belgian federal prosecutor's office, Eric Van Der Sypt, said.

Belgian prosecutors said the officers had not suffered life-threatening injuries.

The attack happened near a main road in a region linked to previous terror attacks.

It comes just hours after commuters were evacuated from Brussels Nord station over a bomb scare.

Belgium has been on high alert following attacks in Brussels on the airport and the city's metro system in March, which killed 35 people and injured more than 300.

The attacks were claimed by the Islamic State (IS) militant group.