Police say incident outside Opera House which left two people in critical condition is not being investigated as terrorism

Six people have been injured after a knife attack at a demonstration in Belgium on Thursday evening, police said.

Two of the victims were in a critical condition in hospital following the incident in the port city of Antwerp near the Operaplein (Opera Square), police spokesperson Wouter Bruyns said.

Bruyns said police were able to apprehend the two suspects who, based on initial findings, had mingled with the demonstrators.

Four of the people who were stabbed were found in the square, with two others nearby in the vicinity of Rooseveltplaats and Sint-Elisabethstraat, local reports suggested.

Police said the incident was being investigated as a case of attempted murder, “not terrorism”, and that officers were looking at CCTV footage to ensure no other suspects had evaded arrest.
The demonstration outside the Opera House, attended by about 50 people, was initially peaceful, according to the newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws.

Flags of the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) and national flags were waved during the protest in support of Kurds in northern Syria, where Kurdish-led forces have been fighting a government advance.

However, shortly after the demonstration ended at around 720 pm local time, the situation escalated.

Orhan Kilic, a spokesperson for Navbel, a group representing the Kurdish diaspora in Belgium, said families, women, young people and children attended the protest.

He said: “Just as the protest was disbanding, the Kurdish demonstrators were attacked by a group of men.

“These men had sneaked into the demonstration and suddenly pulled out knives and began stabbing people indiscriminately.

“It is clear that this attack is not an isolated instance of senseless violence, but a motivated attack on a community.”

Forensic officers were seen at the square, and police have urged people to stay away from the area.