Suspect arrested after crashing car into Belgian barracks
By AFP 1 hour ago in World
A man suspected of driving his car into the gates of a military barracks in the Belgian city of Namur on Monday has been arrested, a prosecutor said Monday.
"The individual has just been arrested. It is important to calm people. There is nothing to suggest there are others involved," prosecutor Vincent Macq told the Belga news agency.
Officials said the man had fled on foot after guards fired warning shots. No casualties were reported.
An AFP journalist at the scene said the presumed assailant abandoned the damaged vehicle in a field nearby.
A military bomb squad had arrived at the site as well as a SWAT team.
The perimeter has been sealed off by police, with a helicopter flying overhead, he said, with reports that nearby military facilities and a police academy were on high alert.
A local TV station said that pupils at a nearby school were told to remain indoors.
Officials told AFP no immediate motive for the attack was known.
The Flawinne base in the central Belgian city is home to a commando battalion of 650 soldiers that take part in NATO operations and peacekeeping missions.
The incident stirred memories of recent deadly attacks, including the killing of four people at the Jewish museum in central Brussels in 2014 by a jihadist gunman.
In January, the security forces killed two suspected jihadist fighters in Verviers, eastern Belgium, who they claimed were planning imminent attacks.
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