One or more gunmen opened fire at Belgian police officers, injuring three, during a search in the Brussels borough of Forest that prosecutors said was linked to the probe into the Nov. 13 Paris terror attacks.
Three police officers sustained “minor injuries” during the shooting in the Rue du Dries, located near the Audi car-assembly plant in the Belgian capital, Marie Verbeke, a spokeswoman for the local police force, said on Tuesday by telephone. The federal prosecutor’s office, which is in charge of terrorism probes, said in a separate statement that it took over the case regarding “the incidents in Forest,” without providing more information.
Live images webcast by Belgian public and commercial broadcasters at the scene showed the neighborhood was sealed off, with heavily armed police patrolling the streets and a police helicopter circling the area. According to La Derniere Heure, there were two gunmen who got away via nearby rooftops and abandoned their weapons on the run. The newspaper report couldn’t immediately be confirmed.
The Belgian probe into the Paris attacks has already revealed that the Nov. 13 events were prepared and organized in the capital of neighboring Belgium. While suspected Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam remains on the run, Belgian authorities have detained a dozen other suspects on terrorism charges. All of the suspected terrorists had their residence in Brussels.
