One police officer died and another was injured in a stabbing attack in Brussels Thursday, which a Belgian judicial official said was suspected to be terrorism-linked, The Associated Press reports.
The suspected attacker was shot and "neutralized" after the stabbing and taken to hospital, Belgian police said, as quoted by Le Soir newspaper.
"One of our patrols was attacked by a man armed with a knife," police said. "The two police officers then called for reinforcements. An officer from another patrol used his firearm to neutralize the attacker."
"The two injured detectives and the assailant were taken to hospital," police added. Le Soir said one of the officers was stabbed in the neck and died from his injuries.
A judicial official told AP there is "a suspicion of a terror attack." The official did not elaborate.
Belgian media reported that the attacker shouted "Allahu Akbar" during the attack, which occurred around 7:15 p.m. local time.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo posted a message of condolences to the family and friends of the dead officer.
"Our police officers risk their lives every day to ensure the safety of our citizens," he said. "Today´s tragedy demonstrates this once again."
Belgium has been on alert for extremist violence since the March 22, 2016 attacks on Brussels airport and a metro station left 32 dead and wounded hundreds of others.
Several terrorists who carried out attacks in Europe in recent years came from the Brussels neighborhood of Molenbeek, which has been linked to terror activities in the past two decades.
These include Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who was the mastermind behind the Islamic State (ISIS) attacks in Paris in November of 2015.
Police regularly detain terror suspects in the neighborhood.