In a statement released by its “Amaq” media agency, ISIS claimed that the man who stabbed two female police officers in the southern Belgium city of Charleroi yesterday (Saturday) was a “soldier of the caliphate.”

The attacker was identified by a Belgian prosecutor as a man of Algerian origin who was known to local police for committing crimes, but not as a potential terrorist. He was shot by a third officer at the scene and later died of his wounds.

One of the police officers had deep cuts to her face, though reportedly her wounds were not life-threatening, while the other escaped with minor injuries.

The ISIS media agency claimed that it had received reports from a “security source” that the attacker was responding to general calls for Jihadists to commit terror attacks in the heartland of Europe.

The attacker was heard yelling “Allahu Akbar” before stabbing at the officers.

Prime Minister Charles Michel told media soon after the attack that: “Initial indications very clearly point towards terrorism.”