Manhunt in Brussels after raid linked to Paris attacks

Belgian police launched a manhunt in a Brussels neighbourhood on Tuesday after at least one gunman opened fire on officers during an anti-terror raid linked to last year's Paris attacks, officials said. Three police officers were slightly wounded during the operation.

Belgian police secure the area in a Brussels neighbourhood after an anti-terror raid linked to last year's Paris attacks.

Two hours after the first shots were fired, a big swathe of the Forest neighbourhood was in lockdown as special police units in body armour and balaclava hoods moved in, several with their guns drawn.
A helicopter was hovering overhead to patrol the area as police were still hunting for at least one suspect.

"Two individuals, apparently barricaded themselves inside a home," Forest mayor Marc-Jean Ghyssels told local media. It wasn't immediately clear if the two people escaped, or whether police were searching for more people.

A police official, who requested anonymity because the operation was still ongoing, also said it wasn't clear if the police officers were struck by bullets or injured in another way.

Another official said that the anti-terror raid in the Forest neighbourhood was linked to the Paris attacks on November 13 that killed 130 people. The Paris news channel iTele cited the French interior minister, who is in the Ivory Coast, as saying French officers were involved in the raid.

The lockdown in the area continued more than an hour after the first shots were fired and is close to Molenbeek, home to several people involved in the Paris attacks.

Police sealed off a wide perimeter around the area where the shots were heard to keep the many bystanders at a safe distance. A helicopter was hovering overhead to patrol the area as police were still looking for at least one suspect.

 Several hundred spectators were trying to get a closer look at the operation in the multicultural neighbourhood, which has a big Audi car factory nearby. Audi asked its personnel to stay at the plant while the police raid was going on.