PARIS — A French resident tried to drive over pedestrians on a crowded shopping street in the Belgian port city of Antwerp on Thursday, and a rifle and several knives were found in the vehicle, prosecutors said.

With tensions already high in Europe after a similar attack involving a vehicle on Wednesday near Parliament in London, Belgian prosecutors identified the suspect only as Mohamed R., in keeping with traditional practice — a 39-year-old French resident of North African ancestry.

No injuries were reported, but a bomb disposal unit was sweeping the car for explosives and inspecting an unidentified canister of liquid that was also found in the car.

“We remain vigilant,” said the Belgian prime minister, Charles Michel, on Twitter. “Our security services did an outstanding job in Antwerp.”</s>Police have confirmed that a French National of North African origin has been arrested and detained after driving at “high speed” and attempting to plow into a large crowd of people in Antwerp, Belgium. Francois Hollande, France’s president, has acknowledged to reporters that it is believed a French National was involved in the events in Antwerp.

The 39-year-old suspect, who has been identified by police as Mohamed R., was driving a maroon vehicle with what are believed to be French number plates. The suspect ran straight through a red light and then attempted to drive into a crowd of people nearby who were busy shopping in a pedestrianized Antwerp neighborhood.

After the terror suspect had been apprehended, police found a shotgun and knives inside the man’s vehicle, as well as a can containing some kind of as yet unknown liquid, as the Metro reported. A statement from prosecutors in Belgium lists different kinds of arms that were “found in the boot – bladed weapons, a riot gun and a container of liquid that is still unidentifiable.”

Police say that after the man was initially unsuccessful at mowing down pedestrians, he kept driving at a high rate of speed and repeatedly tried to hit people that were in the pedestrian streets of Antwerp, Belgium.

The BBC reported that Antwerp police chief Serge Muyters said the car involved in this attack was discovered at around 11 a.m (10:00 GMT).

Another police source explained that the car was stopped and the driver apprehended after hitting a red light.

Immediately after the incident took place, images in Antwerp, Belgium began to appear all over social media, and some of them showed the scene unfolding as the police, military personnel, and a bomb squad arrived to apprehend the terror suspect. As soon as the driver of the car was stopped in Antwerp, Belgium, he was immediately detained and later arrested.

It is not currently known if any bystanders sustained serious injuries, but those who witnessed the incident report that pedestrians were forced to jump out of the way as the driver of the vehicle kept increasing his speed in order to hit people.

Police have now raised the level of security in the centers of towns, as well as other places where a large number of people could be gathering in Antwerp, Belgium, such as shopping districts.

The terror event in Antwerp, Belgium occurred exactly one year and one day after the attack in Brussels, which left 32 people dead on March 22, 2016. This event happened after Islamic State suicide bombers attacked a metro station, as well as the city’s airport. The same people who were responsible for last year’s Belgium attack were also the perpetrators of the attack in Paris, which left 130 people dead in November of 2015.

This pedestrian attack in Antwerp, Belgium comes directly on the heels of the recent attack in London.</s>The man tried to drive into a crowd at high-speed in a shopping area in the port city of Antwerp. (Photo: Representational/AP)

Brussels: Belgian police arrested a man on Thursday after he tried to drive into a crowd at high-speed in a shopping area in the port city of Antwerp, a police chief said.

The man was of north African origin and used a car with French registration plates, Antwerp police chief Serge Muyters said.

The incident came a day after an attack on the British parliament killed three people plus the attacker, as well as after the first anniversary of the Brussels attacks in which 32 people died.

"A vehicle with French plates has tried to drive at high speed into the Meir (shopping street). A man in camouflage was taken away," Muyters told a news conference.

"The pedestrians had to jump aside," he said. "My gratitude on behalf of all Antwerp to the soldiers who have intervened, the police services and the special intervention force," Antwerp mayor Bart de Wever tweeted.</s>BRUSSELS: A man who tried to drive at high speed into a shopping district in the Belgian city of Antwerp on Thursday (Mar 23) was a French national living in France with knives and other weapons in his car, prosecutors said.



Belgian police arrested the man after he tried to drive into a crowd at high-speed, a police chief said.

The man was of north African origin and used a car with French registration plates, Antwerp police chief Serge Muyters said.

The incident came a day after an attack on the British parliament killed three people plus the attacker, as well as after the first anniversary of the Brussels attacks in which 32 people died.

"A vehicle with French plates has tried to drive at high speed into the Meir (shopping street). A man in camouflage was taken away," Muyters told a news conference.

"The pedestrians had to jump aside," he said.

"My gratitude on behalf of all Antwerp to the soldiers who have intervened, the police services and the special intervention force," Antwerp mayor Bart de Wever tweeted.

Prime Minister Charles Michel said the government was "following this situation as it develops" in the Flemish-speaking northern city.

"We continue to be vigilant. Our security services did an excellent job in Antwerp, thanks," he tweeted.

Meir is the main shopping street in Antwerp's historic centre and is mostly pedestrianised. It is one of the most important shopping areas in the country.

With soldiers deployed at key sites, Belgium has been on high alert since March 22 last year when suicide bombers attacked Zaventem airport and Maalbeek metro station that left 32 people dead and more than 320 wounded.

Belgium suffered a further shock in August when a machete-wielding man shouting "Allahu akbar" (God is greatest) attacked two policewomen in the industrial town of Charleroi.

He badly injured one in the face, before a third officer shot him dead.

Islamic State militants have claimed responsibility for a number of attacks using vehicles in Europe in recent months, including Wednesday's carnage in London.

Attackers rammed lorries into crowds in the French city of Nice in July last year killing 86 people and a Christmas market in the German capital Berlin last year.

On Wednesday, Belgium's King Philippe and Queen Mathilde led ceremonies commemorating the Brussels bombings, which were also claimed by Islamic State.

Interior Minister Jan Jambon told AFP in the runup to the anniversary that tighter security had made Belgium safer safer than it was a year ago.

However he said it faced the threat of continuing radicalisation at home and from battle-hardened fighters returning from Middle East battle fields.

Belgium's federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw told AFP in November that the cell that carried out the Brussels bombings, and was involved in the Paris attacks, had got its orders from high up in the IS command.

Numbering around 500, Belgium is the European Union's largest per capita source of so-called foreign extremist fighters, but Jambon said none had left the country for the Middle East since January 2016.</s>BRUSSELS — Belgian authorities on Thursday tightened security in the port of Antwerp after a Frenchman drove his car at high speed through a busy shopping area, forcing pedestrians to jump out of the way.

The federal prosecutor’s office said the car was intercepted late Thursday morning at the port docks and a man, identified as 39-year-old Mohamed R. and living in France, was arrested. Authorities then raised security in the centre of town.

In the car, authorities said they found knives, a shotgun and a gas can with an unknown liquid.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

The incident appeared to have the hallmarks of several extremist attacks in Europe — a car in a busy area bent on mowing down pedestrians. Vehicles were used last year in attacks in Nice and Berlin, as well as on Wednesday in London, where four people died in a rampage close to Parliament.

The office said “because of these elements, and the events in London yesterday, the case is being taken on by the federal prosecutor’s office,” which usually deals with extremist attacks.

Prime Minister Charles Michel said “we remain vigilant. Our security services have done excellent work.” He also expressed sincere condolences to British Prime Minister Theresa May. We are working in close co-operation with our security and intelligence services, and of course I assured my counterpart that she could count on our support and co-operation.“

The events happened a day after the nation held remembrance services for the Brussels airport and subway attacks, which killed 32 people on March 22, 2016.

Belgium has been living under the second highest anti-terror alarm ever since, and soldiers in the busy shopping street were immediately involved in trying to control and stop the car, which was speeding away at high speed.</s>Belgian police have arrested a man after he tried to drive into a crowd at high speed in a shopping area of Antwerp, the city’s police chief said.

At 11am a car drove at pedestrians walking along the Meir, Antwerp’s largest shopping street, and “people had to jump to the side” to avoid the vehicle, said Serge Muyters, the Antwerp police chief.

The driver was arrested after a chase in the city centre.

Muyters said the suspect was a man of north African origin, who was wearing a camouflage uniform.

Belgian prosecutors said the arrested man was a French national who lived in France.

According to RTFB, the Francophone state broadcaster, weapons and military uniforms were found in the boot of the car, a red Citroën, and a security perimeter was put in place.

Bart De Wever, the mayor of Antwerp, said on Thursday afternoon that an attack had been thwarted in the city, according to local media reports. He added that extra police and army officers had been deployed.

The attack came a day after a car was driven at high speed along London’s Westminster Bridge in an attack that resulted in the deaths of four people – including the driver.

Wednesday was also the day that Belgium marked the first anniversary of the twin bomb attacks in Brussels that killed 32 people.

Belgium’s prime minister, Charles Michel, who took part in ceremonies to mark the first anniversary of the Brussels attacks, praised the work of the security services.

“We are monitoring the situation very closely,” he wrote on Twitter. “Our security services have been exemplary in their work in Antwerp.”</s>A day after a driver mowed down pedestrians outside of British Parliament, a man in Antwerp, Belgium, attempted a similar attack on Thursday. This time, however, no one was hurt.

Start the conversation, or Read more at New York Magazine.</s>Police in Belgium have arrested a French man of North African origin in the city of Antwerp after a chase near River Scheldt, it has been claimed. The rapid response team was called to St Michael's Quay, at Fortune Street, and the vehicle and the driver was intercepted. Weapons were reportedly found in the car which is reported to have been registered in France.

Antwerp is Belgium's second largest city and the army is now working with the police. It has been claimed the man tried to ram a crowded street in the city. Police apprehended a man who tried to enter the main pedestrianised shopping street in a car at high speed.

Now security in the city has been stepped up. "At about 11 am this morning a vehicle entered De Meir at high speed due to which pedestrians had to jump away," a police spokesman told a news conference, referring to the street name. He added the driver was later arrested and additional police and military personnel had been deployed to the centre of the city, but did not give any further details.

Mayor Bart de Wever has raised the alert level and increased the number of police officers and soldiers on the streets. A perimeter was established around the suspect vehicle and the bomb squad arrived. A federal judicial police department terrorism has taken over the investigation. "</s>A day after a driver mowed down pedestrians outside of British Parliament, a man in Antwerp, Belgium, attempted a similar attack on Thursday. This time, however, no one was hurt.

Police said an attacker in camouflage clothing attempted to enter the pedestrian shopping street De Meir while driving a car at “high speeds” at around 11 a.m. The shoppers in the vehicle’s path were able to get out of the way and police gave chase. They quickly stopped the car and arrested its driver, who reportedly had a rifle and knives in the car, along with a container filled with an unidentified liquid.

Antwerp police chief Serge Muyters identified the man as being of North African descent, while the federal prosecutor said he is a 39-year-old French national named “Mohamed R.” The car he was driving had French license plates.

The attempted attack comes just a day after Belgium marked the first anniversary of the suicide bombings that killed 32 civilians in Brussels.</s>ANTWERP, BELGIUM: Police in the northern Belgian city of Antwerp said yesterday they had detained a man who tried to enter the main pedestrianised shopping street in a car at high speed, adding that security in the city would be stepped up.

"At about 11am (6pm, Singapore time) a vehicle entered De Meir at high speed due to which pedestrians had to jump away," a police spokesman said, referring to the street name.

He added that the driver was arrested and additional police and military personnel had been deployed to the centre of Antwerp, Reuters reported.

"Different arms were found in the boot - bladed weapons, a riot gun (rifle) and a container of liquid that is still unidentifiable," a prosecutor's statement said.

Antwerp police chief Serge Muyters said: "Our army colleagues spotted it and tried to bring the vehicle to a halt. But the driver broke free and drove through the red light towards the port quays.

"The suspect, a man of north African origin, was immediately arrested."

The federal prosecutor's office, which has taken over the investigation, named the suspect as Mohamed R, a 39-year-old resident of France.

An army disposal squad was sent to the scene.
A man drives into a crowd of pedestrians in Antwerp, Belgium, injuring several people. Police arrest the man, who is believed to be North African born and living in France.