Attack in Belgium

(BBC)


There was been an attack in the Belgian city of Liege Tuesday at 12:30 pm. There are still conflicting reports, but it appears that one man, 33-year-old Nordine Amrani carried out the attack in central Liege with guns and grenades, killing 3, wounding 75 before killing himself. Earlier reports claimed there were more than one gunman. Amrani was no stranger to the judicial system in Belgium, having been convicted in 2008 of possessing 10 weapons, over 9,000 weapon parts and over 2,000 cannabis plants. He had been sentenced to 58 months in prison, was granted early release, and on Tuesday, was to answer a summons to be questioned. The below report is from the English-language Flanders News.BE


http://www.deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws.english/news/111213_Attack_Li%25C3%25A8ge


Here is Reuters' report:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/13/us-belgium-explosions-idUSTRE7BC10820111213

There are still many unconfirmed rumors floating around. A Belgian Ministry of Interior spokesman has stated that this appears to be an isolated attack by one man with no connections to terrorism. The website Islam in Europe says that an earlier report that the attack was connected to some honor-killing case in Liege that had been reported by a Pakistani news source appears not to be true and speculates that Amrani, based on his name, appears to be of Moroccan origin. (He is a Belgian citizen.) The Belgian Ministry of Interior is also discounting rumors that the attack was part of a prison escape attempt. (There is a big robbery case in progress in Liege.)

(The Telegraph)

Update: Le Monde (France) has just reported that the death toll has risen to five.

http://fr.news.yahoo.com/fusillade-meurtri%C3%A8re-%C3%A0-li%C3%A8ge-belgique-123508488.html