The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the machete attack in Belgium

The Islamic State claimed responsibility on Sunday for the machete attack on two female police officers in Belgium, which left the two wounded and the attacker shot dead.

Earlier on Sunday, before the group — which has claimed responsibility for several attacks in Europe to which it had no proven connection — issued the claim through the mouthpiece Amaq news agency, Belgian prosecutors identified the attacker as a 33-year-old Algerian man with the initials KB, who had lived in Belgium for four years.

“There are indications that the attack may have been inspired by a terrorist motive,” prosecutors said in a statement, which also said that KB was known to authorities because of his criminal record, not for terrorism.

Related: A machete-wielding man shouting “Allahu Akhbar” attacked police in Belgium

The assailant shouted “Allahu Akbar”, Arabic for “God is great”, during the machete attack outside police headquarters in Charleroi, about 30 miles (50 km) south of Brussels. He had a backpack which did not contain any other weapons, Reuters reported.

He was shot by police and later died from his wounds. The two officers were badly injured.

In the early hours of Sunday, at about 6.20 am local time, police were called out to a neighborhood in Liege, an east Belgian city, after another machete-wielding man was seen in the area. The man was reportedly from Turkey and was not known to police.