Belgian security personnel shot dead a man who had yelled out “Allahu Akbar” (God is Great) while brandishing a knife near them in Brussels on Friday, Reuters reported. Officials are investigating the incident as a terror attack.

The man, identified as a 30-year-old Belgian of Somali origin, succumbed to his injuries at a local hospital. Two soldiers sustained minor injuries in the attack, officials said. He was not known to have any terror links.

The armed accused had allegedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” while running towards the soldiers patrolling near a pedestrian zone in the capital city.

The administration had ordered its Army personnel to patrol the streets of Brussels when it increased the security alert in the aftermath of the terror attacks in Paris in 2015 and Brussels in 2016.

On Thursday, right-wing Mayor of Venice Luigi Brugnaro had said anyone who shouts “Allahu Akbar” in the city will be shot. The Italian city is much safer than Spain’s Barcelona, which was targetedin a terror attack on August 17, the controversial official said.

Similar attacks

On August 19, a knife-wielding man had attacked pedestrians in the Russian city of Surgut, a day after an attacker stabbed two people to death in the Finnish city of Turku.

Several such stabbing incidents have taken place across Europe in the last few months. On July 28, one person was killed and several others sustained injuries after a man had stabbed people in a supermarket in Germany’s Hamburg city. In June, a knife-wielding man had attacked a bar full of people after a van had rammed into people in London’s Borough area killing at least eight people.