ISIS claims responsibility for machete attack in Belgium
ISIS has taken to Twitter to claim responsibility, as is their custom, for the Charleroi attack; assailant has been identified as 33-year-old Algerian living in Belgium since 2012.
BRUSSELS – ISIS claimed responsibility on Sunday for an attack by a machete-wielding man in Charleroi, Belgium, that left two female police officers seriously injured, the group's Amaq news agency said on Twitter.
Shortly before the claim, Belgian prosecutors had identified the assailant as a 33-year-old Algerian, K.B., who had lived in Belgium since 2012, saying that he may have been inspired by terrorism.
The Belgian Federal Prosecutor's Office said Sunday, "Since there are indications that the attack may have been inspired by a terrorist motive, the federal prosecutor's office decided to take over the investigation from the district prosecutor's office of Charleroi."
The attacker, who shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) during the assault on Saturday, was shot by police and died of his injuries. He was carrying a rucksack, but no explosives or other weapons were found.
"There are indications that the attack may have been inspired by a terrorist motive," the prosecutors said in a statement. "He is known to police for criminal acts, not for terrorism."
Prosecutors searched two houses in Charleroi after the attack but did not provide details.
Early on Sunday Belgian police arrested a man with a machete in the eastern city of Liège, broadcaster VRT reported.
It said Liège police had cordoned off an area before detaining 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. He added that the prosecutors were investigating a possible case of "attempted terrorist murder."
The prime minister spoke to reporters following an emergency meeting with top Belgian law enforcement officials on Sunday morning. Michel cut short his vacation in the south of France to hurry back to Brussels following the attack in the southern Belgian city.
"We must keep a cool head," he said. "We must avoid panic, of course—not give in to terror. That's the trap that has been set for us."
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.
