The Da’esh (ISIS) terrorist organization claimed responsibility on Sunday for the vicious machete attack Saturday afternoon against two female police officers in the Belgian city of Charleroi.
The group’s Amaq News Agency quoted an unidentified source who said the attack came “in response to calls to target citizens” from the nations who participate in the U.S. coalition conducting air strikes against ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
Belgium has opened a terrorism probe into the attack, one of a string of radical Islamist assaults on members of the European Union.
The 33-year-old terrorist, an Algerian national, yelled “Allahu Akbar!” (God is Great, in Arabic) as he swung the machete at the face of the first police officer, cutting her deeply.
The second victim, who also sustained wounds to her face, was not as seriously wounded, having had enough time to muster defenses to fight off the attacker. In addition, a third officer opened fire, shooting and ultimately killing the terrorist.
Both police officers were standing at the entrance of a police station around 4 pm local time (11 am NY time) when the terrorist walked up to them carrying a sports bag. He pulled the machete from his bag and began hacking at the officers.