Gunman with Islamist links kills three in Belgian city
LIEGE, Belgium (AFP) — A gunman on a police watch-list for contacts with Islamist extremists launched a brazen suspected terror attack in Belgium, shooting dead two female police officers with their own weapons before killing a bystander.
The bloodshed in the gritty eastern industrial city of Liege began around 10:30 am Tuesday when the attacker armed with a knife repeatedly stabbed the two officers before using their own firearms to kill them, prosecutors said.
Federal prosecutors said they had launched a terror investigation into the incident.
Amateur footage aired by Belgium’s state broadcaster showed the gunman shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest”) as he walked through the streets during the rampage.
In another video, a short and intense burst of gunfire is audible, after which the man lies on the ground.
“Armed with a knife, the suspect followed and attacked two police officers, and used their own firearms to kill them,” prosecutor Philippe Dulieu told a news conference.
“He continued on foot, attacking a parked vehicle where he opened fire on a 22-year-old man in the passenger seat. The young man died.
“He then continued and entered the Leonie de Waha school. He took a woman working there as hostage. Police intervened; he came out firing on the police officers, wounding several before he was killed.”
Belgium remains on high alert after a string of attacks including twin suicide bombings in Brussels in 2016 claimed by the Islamic State group.
A source close to the investigation told AFP that the gunman was on a special police watch-list because of his contacts with radical Islamists.
The source named the attacker as Benjamin Herman, born in 1982, saying he had past convictions for robbery, violence and drug dealing.
Herman was “already on the run” after committing another murder on Monday night in the town of On, in southern Belgium, the source said, though local prosecutors said they have not yet established a link with the Liege incident.
He was reported by Belgian broadcaster RTBF to have been released from prison on Monday.
