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A TERRORIST slashed two policewomen’s throats before executing them with their own guns and shooting an onlooker today while on day release from jail.

"Radicalised" ex-drug dealer Benjamin Herman yelled "Allahu Akbar" as he carried out the attack in the Belgian city of Liege.

The suspected gunman in Liege
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The suspected gunman in Liege

The 36-year-old died in a hail of police bullets after he carried out the attack in which four other policemen were wounded.

A police source told Reuters that Herman shouted "Allahu Akbar" - God is greatest in Arabic - during the incident.

A Koran and prayer rug were found during a search of his cell, local media said.

The justice minister said Herman had been freed for two days to prepare for his eventual release in 2020.

What we know so far

  • A terrorist  - named locally as 36-year-old petty criminal Benjamin Herman - slashed two cops with a box knife before stealing one of their guns and shooting them dead
  • He then shot a driver before he was gunned down by local cops
  • Cops are treating the attack as a terrorist incident
  • Herman was shot dead at the scene
  • Cops are investigating whether he was "radicalised" in prison and reportedly found a prayer mat and a Koran in his cell
  • Herman was on a two day release from prison to prepare for his eventual full release in 2020
  • Local reports suggest he may have been on a police watch list
  • The two dead officers were named as Soraya Belkacemi - the mother of 13 year old twins - and Lucile Garcia, while the murdered driver was Cyril Vangriecken

Confirming that the attacker was on a police watch list, lawmaker George Dallemagne, who sits on several Belgian parliamentary security committees, tweeted: "The supervision of radicalised prisoners remains tragically flawed."

He was not on a terror watch list, although a prisons service source said he had become increasingly close to radicalised inmates.

The source added that he was believed to be psychologically unstable and wanted to “carry out attacks when released”.

A spokesman for local prosecutors confirmed terrorism as the likely motive for the attacks.

The attacker, circled, was shot by police
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The attacker, circled, was shot by police
He was gunned down in the street
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He was gunned down in the street
The suspect is pictured face down on the pavement
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The suspect is pictured face down on the pavement

Herman was also linked with a suspected drugs feud murder in Luxembourg and a jewellery robbery in his home town Rochefort, 40 miles from Liege, soon after his release on Monday.

Prime Minister Charles Michel said, however, that Herman had not figured directly on the main national register of threats.

The gunman is understood to have crept up on officers Soraya Belkacemi and Lucile Garcia as they checked parking meters before cutting their throats and stabbing them.

Herman then took the officers’ side arms and shot them both in the head with their own weapons.

Two police officers were shot dead in the attack
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Two police officers were shot dead in the attack

His goal was to “target the police”, according to the Liege police chief.

The gunman is understood to have been released from prison the day before he went on the deadly rampage.

During the frenzied attack he shot onlooker 22-year-old Cyril Vangriecken before taking a school cleaning lady hostage and injuring four more cops in a ferocious gun battle.

Pupils were moved to safety as a gun battle broke out that sent people in the street racing for cover.

Philippe Dulieu, spokesman for the Liege prosecutor's office, said: "The event is classed as a terrorist incident.

A man, thought to be the suspect, lies on the pavement
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A man, thought to be the suspect, lies on the pavementCredit: Reuters
Emergency responders take cover during the suspected terror attack in which two police officers were killed this morning
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Emergency responders take cover during the suspected terror attack in which two police officers were killed this morningCredit: Reuters
A police officer on the scene
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A police officer on the sceneCredit: Reuters
Video from Liege shooting in Belgium shows two police officers shot on the floor
The civilian shot in his car has been named locally as Cyril Vangriecken, 22
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The civilian shot in his car has been named locally as Cyril Vangriecken, 22
One of the murdered cops has been named as Lucile Garcia - wife of the local police commissioner
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One of the murdered cops has been named as Lucile Garcia - wife of the local police commissioner
Policewoman Soraya Belkacemi, left, pictured with fellow slain colleague Lucille Garcia, was a mother-of-twins
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Policewoman Soraya Belkacemi, left, pictured with fellow slain colleague Lucille Garcia, was a mother-of-twinsCredit: Zone de Police de Liège
Emergency services at the scene. Two police officers were shot dead in the incident
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Emergency services at the scene. Two police officers were shot dead in the incidentCredit: AFP
Police speak to parents of children at a school near the incident in Liege
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 Police speak to parents of children at a school near the incident in LiegeCredit: AFP

Paris-Match magazine revealed a Koran and prayer rug were found during a search of his cell.

It also claimed that he was added to a secret police watch of radical prisoners last year.

was on leave from prison and failed to return to jail on Monday night.

The 36-year-old was known to the police for theft, damage to public property, drug trafficking and was known to be violent.

Police take cover during the incident in Liege
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Police take cover during the incident in LiegeCredit: Reuters

He is thought to be the prime suspect in a murder that took place just days after he was released from prison.

Michael Wilmet, 30, was shot in the head during a suspected drugs dispute in the town of Marche-en-Famenne, Luxembourg on Monday night.

A police source said this killing may "have been a settling of accounts". They added: "At the moment the prime suspect for the murder is Herman."

He was also considered "unstable" and had no contact with his family, it was reported.

Police and ambulance at the scene of the shooting in Liege
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Police and ambulance at the scene of the shooting in LiegeCredit: AFP
Civilians run as shotguns and sirens can be heard after a man shots dead two police officers and takes a woman hostage in the Belgian city of Liege

Yesterday managed to disarm one of the officers and opened fire, killing the pair and a woman in a car.

Catherine Collignon, a spokesman for Liege prosecutors said elite officers shot him dead at the school, and two were injured in the process.

"Two officers were hit and then the man went on the run," a local source said.

"He was seen running into the Waha secondary school, where he was said to have taken a female cleaner hostage," the source added.

A bomb squad arrives at the scene
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A bomb squad arrives at the sceneCredit: EPA
A convoy of ambulances leave the scene in Liege where a woman was taken hostage and two police officers were shot

Minutes later, anti-terrorist special forces police could be seen surrounding the area, which went into lock down.

"The gunman was then neutralised," said the source.

The school students and female hostage were not injured in the attack.

Belgium's anti-terrorist crisis centre was monitoring the situation, Interior Minister Jan Jambon said on Twitter.

Two other police officers had been injured, Belga news agency said.

An ambulance attends the scene of the suspected terror incident
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An ambulance attends the scene of the suspected terror incidentCredit: Reuters
Forensics experts also attend the scene of the shooting in Liege
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Forensics experts also attend the scene of the shooting in LiegeCredit: Reuters
A forensic tent is erected at the scene
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A forensic tent is erected at the sceneCredit: Reuters
A police officer at the scene of the shooting
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A police officer at the scene of the shootingCredit: Reuters

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Images on social media showed people scurrying for safety on Liege's central Boulevard d'Avroy with shots and sirens being heard in the background. One video showed two police in body armour moving into position.

Liege, an industrial city close to the German border in the French-speaking Wallonia region, was also the scene of a shooting in 2011, when a gunman killed four people and wounded over 100 before turning the gun on himself.

Belgium has been on high alert since a Brussels-based Islamic State cell was involved in attacks on Paris in 2015 that killed 130 people and Brussels in 2016 in which 32 died.

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