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A French -Tunisian has been arrested after trying to drive a car loaded with liquid gas, assault rifles and knives into a crowd of shoppers in Antwerp in an attempted terror attack.
Belgian police, who confirmed the bomb squad had been sent to the area, said the car was being driven at high speed and that pedestrians had to jump out of the way to avoid being injured.
Authorities found knives, a shotgun and a gas can with an unknown liquid in the car prompting officers who usually deal with extremist attacks to take over the case.
It comes just hours after three people were killed in London by a terrorist who mowed down pedestrians and cyclists outside the House of Commons before stabbing a policeman to death.
A police car blocks access to the Meir, Antwerp's main pedestrian street, after a man was arrested after he tried to drive into a crowd of shoppers at high speed on the street, on March 23, 2017
Authorities found a rifle and bladed weapons in the car after the 39-year-old man tried to flee and was detained in the northern city (picture d)
Police pictured at the Sint-Michielskaai in Antwerp, the location of a possible thwarted terrorist attack in Antwerp
The Belgian bomb squad were called to the car after the man was arrested in Antwerp
The suspected attacker is said to have tried to mow down pedestrians on Meir (pictured)
The suspect was said to be travelling in a car registered in France and that it was a red Citroën
Two armed officers stand guard as the car is seen to by other officers from the bomb squad
Belgian police said they would be b eefing up security in the city of Antwerp (pictured)
bomb disposal robot is seen removing items from a car which had entered the main pedestrian shopping street in the city at high speed
Police officers patrol on the Meir, the main shopping street, after police arrested man on suspicion of driving at a crowd in Antwerp, Belgium
A man wearing camouflage has been arrested after trying to drive a car with French plates into a crowd on a busy shopping street in Antwerp
The car thought to have been driven through the crowds in Antwerp is taken away (circled)
Policemen patrol on the Meir, Antwerp's main pedestrian street, after a man was arrested after he tried to drive into a crowd of shoppers at high speed
Belgian police arrested a man named as Mohamed R, 39, on Thursday after he tried to drive into a crowd at high-speed in a shopping area in the port city of Antwerp at around 11am.
The suspect, who has not been confirmed as a Muslim but is named after the religion's prophet and is said to be of North African descent, was wearing camouflage when he was arrested.
Belgian security forces found a rifle as well as bladed weapons in the car driven by the Frenchman who tried to ram a crowd in the main pedestrianised street in the port city, described by the French President Francois Hollande as an 'attempted terrorist attack'.
The federal prosecutor's office also said bomb disposal units were sent to the scene to examine the vehicle.
'Different arms were found in the boot - bladed weapons, a riot gun (rifle) and a container of liquid that is still unidentified,' the federal prosecutor's office said in a statement.
'The suspect is Mohamed R, born on May 8, 1977, of French nationality and a resident of France,' the statement said.
The driver sped off after Belgian soldiers, who have been deployed around the country to assist the counter-terrorism fight, tried to stop the car.
'A short while later, a rapid intervention force from Antwerp police was able to stop the car,' the statement said.
Two armed police officers walk down the street in Antwerp where the French-Tunisian was arrested
A shopper clings onto her bag as she walks in front of two arm ed officers on the Meir
Pedestrians walk down the Meir in Antwerp where a suspected attacker is said to have tried to drive down
Police pictured at the Sint-Michielskaai in Antwerp, the location of a possible thwarted terrorist attack in Antwerp
Sint-Michielskaai in Antwerp, the location of a possible thwarted terrorist attack in Antwerp
It was not immediately clear if the car contained any explosives.
The car was driven down the Meir street in Antwerp - the city's busiest pedestrianised streets.
Shoppers had to dive out of the way of the speeding car to avoid serious injury.
Belgian soldiers then forced the driver to stop, but he fled by running a red light as he made his way towards the Scheldt river.
Less than a mile later, he was stopped by police officers and arrested.
The gas liquid was found in a canister, and as a result the case was handed over to the federal prosecutor's office, which usually deals with terrorism cases in Belgium.
Di fferent arms were found in the boot - bladed weapons, a riot gun (rifle) and a container of liquid that is still unidentified
Belgian federal prosecutor's office
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.'
Prime Minister Charles Michel said 'we remain vigilant. Our security services have done excellent work.'
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.
He added the driver was later arrested and additional police and military personnel had been deployed to the centre of Antwerp, but did not give any further details.
Th e suspect was said to be travelling in a car registered in France and that it was a red Citroën.
He tried and failed to knock people down in the busy shopping area and fled the scene towards the city's port where he was arrested, according to Le Soir.
The man, who is said to be of North African origin, was detained on St Michielskaai in Antwerp which is less than a mile away from the Meir, according to VTM.
A forensics expert stands next to a car which had entered the main pedestrian shopping street in the city at high speed
RISE OF THE VEHICLE TERRORISTS
Today's suspected terror attack in Antwerp is the latest in a string of similar incidents across the world where extremists have used vehicles as weapons.
Yesterday, three people were killed in a massacre outside the House of Commons in London when an ISIS-inspired attacker mowed down pedestrians and stabbed a policeman.
He was shot dead by armed officers.
On Bastille Day in the summer of last year, 86 people were killed when a truck was driven through crowds enjoying fireworks in Nice.
Four months later, a copycat ISIS-inspired massacre took place in Germany when a terrorist drove a truck through a Christmas market in Berlin.
Twelve people were killed in the attack on December 19.
This year, a Palestinian lorry driver mowed down and then reversed over Israeli soldiers.
The attack occurred on January 8 and killed four people.
At least one person is feared dead in the Westminster Bridge incident, which comes on the anniversary of another deadly act of terrorism in the name of Islamic State in Brussels which killed 32.
ISIS' propaganda magazine has regularly called on lone wolf attackers to use lorries and vehicles as deadly weapons.
In response to the terror threat, France is in the process of building an 8ft bulletproof wall around the Eiffel Tower aimed at protecting the iconic landmark from potential jihadists.
TERROR IN WESTMINSTER
People stand near a crashed car and a injured person lying on the ground, right, on Bridg e Street near the Houses of Parliament in London, Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Yesterday, on the first anniversary of an ISIS-inspired terror attack in Brussels that killed 32 people, there was terror on the streets of London.
Two people died when an Islamist extremist drove a Hyundai 4x4 along the pavement and bus lane on Westminster Bridge, mowing down pedestrians and cyclists.
Twenty-nine people were injured.
After crashing the car into railings outside the House of Commons, the attacker ran to towards the iconic building and stabbed a policeman to death.
He was shot dead by armed officers.
BASTILLE DAY
The battered front of the truck used by Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel to kill 86 people who were celebrating Bastille Day
On the evening of July 14, 2016, a 19-tonne cargo truck was driven into crowds celebrating Bastille Day on the Promenage des Anglais in Nice.
ISIS fanatic Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was behind the wheel and after exchanging gunfire with police, the Tunisian migrant was shot dead.
Thousands had gathered on the seafront to watch the fireworks that night.
Eighty-six of them died and 434 were injured.
BERLIN CHRISTMAS MARKET
A tow truck operates at the scene where a truck ploughed through a crowd at a Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square near the fashionable Kurfuerstendamm avenue in the west of Berlin, Germany
Anis Amri stole a cargo truck and killed 12 people when he drove through a Christmas market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church at Breitscheidplatz in Berlin.
Among the dozen people killed in the ISIS-inspired terror attack on December 19, 2016, was the original driver of the truck Lukasz Urban who was found dead with a gunshot wound in the passenger street.
Amri was a Tunisian who had failed to gain asylum status in the country.
He was killed in Milan four days later after an international manhunt.
JERUSALEM SOLDIERS ATTACK
Israeli soldiers work at the scene where police said a Palestinian named as Fadi Qunbar, 28, rammed his truck into a group of four Israeli soldiers on a popular promenade in Jerusalem January 8, 2017
On January 8 this year, a Palestinian rammed a truck into a group of Israeli soldiers visiting a popular tourist spot in Jerusalem, killing four and wounding 15 people, in a shocking copycat of the Berlin and Nice terror massacres.
Shocking video from the scene shows the driver reversing back over the soldiers, trapping ten under his wheels, during the sickening attack on Sunday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alleged the attacker 'supported' the Islamic State group, though he provided no details on what led to the finding.
He said there 'definitely could be a connection ' between Sunday's attack, which killed four Israeli soldiers, and recent attacks in France and Germany.
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
A car which police say was used by an attacker to plow into a group of students is seen outside Watts Hall on Ohio State University's campus in Columbus, Ohio
A Somali refugee injured 13 people when he rammed his car into a group of people outside Ohio State University in Columbus.
Abdul Razak Ali Artan was shot dead by the first responding OSU police officer and ISIS claimed through its Amaq News Agency that he had acted on behalf of the terror group.
After mowing down people in the car, he jumped out of his vehicle and attempted to stab more people.
ATTACK ON CANADIAN PARLIAMENT
Armed RCMP officers approach Centre Block on Parliament Hilll following a shooting incident in Ottawa, Canada on October 22, 2014
Today's terror attack on Parliament bears striking similarities to the assault on Canada's Parliament in October 2014.
That incident also combined the use of a vehicle as a weapon with an attack on police - and was stopped from becoming much worse by the quick reactions of the security forces.
In the earlier attack, a gunman later identified as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau shot a sentry dead at a war memorial near the Parliament building in Ottawa.
He then leaped into a car and drove towards Parliament, still wielding hi s hunting rifle, before hijacking another vehicle and heading for the main building in the complex.
Zehaf-Bibeau - a 32-year-old jihadist - made it inside Parliament, shooting a policeman in the foot, before he was himself shot by the Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers and then killed by another officer.
French President Francois Hollande said on Thursday that a French national appeared to have been involved in a suspected, attempted attack in the Belgium city of Antwerp.
'It seemed to involve a French national, with possibly a certain number of weapons in his boot - it's up to the judges to make a statement on that - who was looking to kill or at the very least create a dramatic incident,' Hollande told reporters.
'Therefore we must continue to be on high alert and mobilise all our forces,' he added.
Yesterday, on the first anniversary of an ISIS-inspired terror attack in Brussels that killed 32 people, there was terror on the streets of London.
Two people died when an Islamist extremist drove a Hyundai 4x4 along the pavement and bus lane on Westminster Bridge, mowing down pedestrians and cyclists.
After crashing the car into railings outsi de the House of Commons, the attacker ran to towards the iconic building and stabbed a policeman to death.
