IS claims machete assault in Belgium, attacker identified as Algerian criminal

BRUSSELS: A machete-wielding man who wounded two policewomen in Belgium was a 33-year-old Algerian, prosecutors said on Sunday as the Islamic State, behind a string

BRUSSELS: A machete-wielding man who wounded two policewomen in Belgium was a 33-year-old Algerian, prosecutors said on Sunday as the Islamic State, behind a string of deadly attacks in Europe, claimed the assault.

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Quoting an unidentified source, Islamic State-linked Amaq Agency said the attack by one of the group’s “soldiers” came “in response to calls to target citizens” belonging to countries in a US-led coalition bombing the jihadists in Syria and Iraq.

The assailant died on Saturday after being shot by a third policewoman.

Belgian prosecutors said on Sunday that the man, whose initials were given as K.B, was already known to police.

He had “a criminal record but was not known for terrorism,” they said, adding that he had been living in Belgium since 2012.

Ahead of the IS claim, Prime Minister Charles Michel told reporters that an investigation was under way “for attempted terrorist murder”, hard on the heels of a meeting of Belgium’s security services.

Charleroi police confirmed the attacker was killed and that the two injured policewomen were out of danger, though both were placed in an induced coma.