Belgium Terror Attack:Police officers' bodies lie on pavement after man opened fire

Two police officers and a civilian have been shot dead by a man shouting Allahu Akbar, which led to a hostage situation at a high school in Liege, east Belgium.



The attacker, who is understood to have been released from prison yesterday, approached the policemen from behind, and stabbed them several times with a knife at around 10.30am local time.



Belgian prosecutors say he then disarmed the officers and used their own guns to kill them, before shooting dead a 22-year-old man in a nearby vehicle.



The man then reportedly fled to a nearby secondary school and took a female cleaner hostage inside, before being shot dead by an elite police unit.



He was later named by Belgian broadcaster RTBF as Benjamin Herman, 36, a violent drug dealer who they claim had been 'radicalized' in prison before his release Monday.



Initial reports suggested that the attacker had opened fire after being stopped by officers for a routine document check, however prosecutors now say he approached the officers.



Local news website DHnet.be reported that he had shouted 'Allahu Akbar' as he fired on on Liege's central Boulevard d'Avroy, citing police sources.



Videos posted on social media showed people scurrying for safety on Liege's central boulevard d'Avroy with shots and sirens being heard in the background.



One video show emergency services and police officers in body armour moving into position, another sees the two police officers shot dead in the street.



Minutes later, anti-terrorist special forces police could be seen surrounding the area, which went into lock down.



Philippe Dulieu, spokesman for the Liege prosecutor's office, told reporters the man had come out firing from the high school, before he was 'neutralised'.



'He came out firing at police, wounding a number of them, notably in the legs. He was shot dead'.



All students in the school were successfully evacuated, and the female hostage was released without being caused any harm.



Officials say they are now considering the attack on Tuesday morning to have been an act of terrorism.