Belgian charged with terror-related offences after stabbing police officers

A security perimeter is seen at the spot where two police officers were stabbed on Oct 5, 2016, in Brussels. PHOTO: AFP

BRUSSELS (REUTERS) - Prosecutors charged a Belgian man, who stabbed two police officers, with attempted terror-related murder and being part of a terrorist group on Thursday (Oct 6) and detained his brother.

The man, 43-year-old Belgian Hicham D, stabbed one officer in the neck and another in the stomach and broke the nose of a third.

Named by media as Hicham Diop, he was then shot in the leg and taken to hospital.

Belgian media said Diop was a former soldier who may have had a grudge against the police after being hit accidentally by a police car in 2011.

His brother Aboubaker D, a Belgian born in 1970, was detained on Thursday afternoon. A special counter-terror judge will decide on Friday whether he should remain in custody.

Brussels is on high alert after bombings in March killed 32 people at the city's airport and in a subway carriage.

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