Attacker who yelled ‘Allahu akbar’ as he stabbed two female cops in Charleroi is shot dead by police
Brutal assault being treated as act of terrorism after one officer is left with horrific facial wounds
A MACHETE man who shouted 'Allahu Akbar' as he stabbed two female police officers in Belgium has been shot dead.
The cops were attacked outside a police station in the city of Charleroi on Saturday afternoon.
One has been seriously injured with deep wounds to the face.
A source said: "She was rushed to hospital and is in a particularly bad way."
The brutal stabbing is being treated as a terrorist attack.
"Initial indications clearly point towards terrorism," Prime Minister Charles Michel told television channel RTL.
The terrorist began his brutal assault when he arrived outside the police station at around 4pm.
"He immediately took a machete out of the sports bag he was carrying and violently struck at the faces of the two policewomen who were on guard duty, shouting 'Allahu akbar'," Charleroi police spokesman David Quinaux told local media.
The attacker was "neutralised" by a third officer and later died of gunshot wounds.
It is not clear whether he was acting alone or as part of a coordinated plot.
Denouncing the "act of barbarism", Belgian interior minister Jan Jambon said: "We don't know if this is the action of a lone wolf".
Prosecutors are expected to identify the knifeman later on Sunday.
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Both of the officers are now "out of danger", Charleroi police said late on Saturday.
A security cordon has been set up around Boulevard Pierre Mainz in the southern Belgian city as investigations continue.
Mr Michel, who is returning from holiday to meet security officials on Sunday, condemned the attack.
"Thoughts go with the victims, their relatives and police officers," he wrote on Twitter as news of the stabbing broke.
"We are closely monitoring the situation."
Charleroi has often been associated with extremist gangs, especially as a place where weapons are kept.
The ISIS unit which attacked Paris last November, killing 130 people in one night, is said to have picked up its AK47 and explosives in the city before heading for the French capital.
Belgium is currently on a threat level three out of four, meaning a terrorist attack is "possible or probable".
The country is the biggest EU exporter of homegrown terrorists travelling to fight for ISIS in Syria.
In March, three suicide bombers attacked Brussels Airport and Maalbeek metro station in the centre of the capital, killing 32 people.
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