One gunman killed, second surrounded, after shootout during Brussels raid linked to Paris attacks
Once gunman killed, another reportedly surrounded, after shootout with Belgian and French security forces, who are hunting suspects and associates of militants involved in the Islamist attacks on November 13
• One gunman killed, 'Kalashnikov by his side', another surrounded after shootout with Belgian and French police in Brussels
• Four policemen wounded in shoot-out
• Raid on homes in Brussels linked to Paris attacks
One terror suspect has been killed "Kalashnikov by his side" and an armed standoff is reportedly underway with a second after a shootout with Belgian and French police in Brussels.
Four officers were injured, one reportedly seriously, after coming under fire during a joint anti-terror operation linked to
the investigation of November's Islamist attacks in Paris.
Two separate bouts of shooting erupted on Tuesday afternoon within half an hour during the anti-terror raid that took place in the quiet residential suburb of Forest south of the Belgian capital.
"Police were fired at," said Eric Van Der Sypt, a spokesman for the federal prosecutor, adding that the search in the southern Forest district was "linked to the Paris attacks investigation".
A police officer runs on top of a roof during a police operation on the site of a shooting in the rue du Dries in Forest-Vorst, Brussels Photo: EPA
Three were wounded during the raid, while a fourth was hit in an ensuing clash, he added.
At least one suspect escaped onto the roof, according to local media reports, while at least one remained inside the building.
Police officers take position during a police operation in Forest, Brussels Photo: EPA
One was holed up inside the house where the gunfire erupted and was armed with at least one automatic weapon. The suspect, reportedly of joint Belgian and Moroccan nationality, was later pronounced dead. "A body was found during the search of the house in rue de Dries," said Mr Van Der Sypt. According to BFMTV, the tenant of the flat was involved in the logistics of the Paris attacks.
Meanwhile, another suspect has been surrounded in a piece of waste ground nearby, according to Le Soir, the Belgian daily.
A Belgium police officer secures the area from a rooftop near the scene where shots were fired during a police search of a house in the suburb of Forest near Brussels Photo: REUTERS
“To locate him more precisely, a police dog equipped with a camera was sent into the waste ground before withdrawing under fire from the surrounded man,” it reported.
Police sources said they could not confirm whether there were more than two armed suspects in all.
Police officers take position on a rooftop during a police operation in Forest, Brussels Photo: EPA
The area around the raid, near the main north-south railway linking Paris and Amsterdam and a car factory, was sealed off.
Police at the scene where shots were fired during a police search of a house in the suburb of Forest near Brussels, Belgium Photo: REUTERS
A witness in the rue de Dries told RTLInfo: "There is incessant gunfire and its still going. My husband is holed up in the kitchen. You never know. We are scared of stray bullets. It's still going."
Another said: "I heard policemen enter the street. An ambulance is there and emergency services are treating injured policemen. Now soldiers are coming into the houses. There are around 50 policemen. They are masked and are wearing bullet-proof vests. It's a barnum," she said.
Belgian security forces during a police operation in Forest-Vorst, Brussels Photo: EPA
A third said: "There are around 20 police cars. Armoured vehicles have just arrived. All the cops have hand guns. A helicopter is flying over Forest. All the neighbouring roads have been blocked off."
Police at the scene where shots were fired during a police search of a house in the suburb of Forest near Brussels, Belgium Photo: REUTERS
According to Dernière Heure, the police came under Kalashnikov fire.
Police expected the flat they were searching to be empty when they came under fire. One expert said it was "surprising" that they had not discreetly checked it really was empty before approaching the property.
French and Belgian authorities are on the hunt for Salah Abdeslam, a prime suspect in the Paris attacks and who was last seen in a Brussels suburb shortly after the attacks.
Police at the scene where shots were fired during a police search of a house in the suburb of Forest near Brussels, Belgium Photo: REUTERS
However the search was not directly linked to Abdeslam, according to a judicial source.
"The operation was not targeting Salah Abdeslam. It was aimed at people connected to one or several of the 11 Belgians who have been charged," the source told AFP. The raid was linked to checking “false identities” in the Paris attacks probe, according to RTBF.
A victim is removed from the scene where shots were fired during a police search of a house in the suburb of Forest near Brussels Photo: REUTERS
The November 13 terror attacks in Paris were planned and coordinated from Brussels and several of the gunmen, including ringleader Abelhamid Abaaoud came from Molenbeek, a northern suburb.
It was previously thought that Abdeslam, who played an as yet undetermined role in the November 13 attacks in Paris and returned to Brussels the following day, had left the Belgian capital and could have fled to Syria to rejoin Isil.
A Belgium police officer secures the area from a rooftop near the scene where shots were fired during a police search of a house in the suburb of Forest near Brussels Photo: REUTERS
However, last month Dernière Heure reported that the wanted fugitive – whose brother Brahim blew himself up outside a Paris cafe - remained holed up in a flat in Schaerbeek, northeast of Brussels, from November 14 until December 4.
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