Algerian man killed in Belgium shootout 'carried IS flag'

Following a gun battle with Belgium security in Brussels, an Algerian suspect shot dead by police was found to carry Salafi literature, an AK-47 and a IS flag, officials said.

MENA

1 min read

�� & agencies

16 March, 2016

Brussels went into lock-down after the shootings [AFP]

A man killed during a shootout with Belgium police in Brussles was found with an Islamic State group flag, a Kalashnikov assault rifle and a book of Salafist literature next to his body, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

Thierry Werts, a spokesman for anti-terror prosecutors, said that the suspect has been named as 35-year-old Belkaid Mohamed, an Algerian national who was illegally in Belgium.

"Next to the body was a Kalashnikov, a book on Salafism and an Islamic State [group] flag," Werts said.

Mohamed was shot dead by police snipers on Tuesday after a routine police search led to heavy gunfire from the building Mohamed is said to have been in, AFP said.

But a manhunt continues for two other suspects.

"Two persons who were probably in the flat and whose identity is not known fled the scene and are being tracked down," Werts said.

Prime Minister Charles Michel said a vast police operation was still under way in Brussels after the shootout in which four police officers were slightly wounded.