August 27, 2017, 6:00 amUpdated: August 27, 2017, 9:21 am
Police secure the scene in downtown Brussels after an attack on Belgian Army soldiers (AP Photo/Sylvain Plazy)
A terror suspect shot dead by soldiers in Brussels was a former Somalian asylum seeker granted Belgian citizenship two years ago, authorities have revealed.
The man shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he stabbed the soldiers in Friday’s attack, one of whom shot him twice.
The assailant died shortly afterwards in hospital.
Federal prosecutors said the man, aged 30 and of Somali origin, had come to Belgium in 2004. He was granted asylum in 2009 and gained Belgian citizenship in 2015.
Meanwhile tens of thousands of people – including Spain’s King Felipe VI – last night marched through Barcelona to show their defiance against terrorism.
Fifteen people were killed on August 17 when a van ploughed into crowds on the city’s Las Ramblas, and a car mowed down pedestrians in the nearby seaside town of Cambrils.
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