Gunman on run after attack on army barracks in Belgium

From the Guardian and AFP

A gunman is on the run in Belgium after trying to force his car through the gates of a military barracks, prosecutors in the country have said. Several shots were fired, but no one was hurt. The man, wearing a balaclava, tried to enter the barracks in Flawinne, near the city of Namur, on Monday. After an exchange of fire the man fled, abandoning the car, prosecutors said. The newspaper La Dernière heure said that the car had been found abandoned nearby. 

“No one was hurt, it seems. The man is on the run,” a spokesman for prosecutors in Namur said. “If I look at it from an outsider’s point of view, it seems incomprehensible. Why would you attack a military barracks? There are plenty of weapons there to strike back.” Er… because a military base is a military target???

An AFP journalist at the scene said a military bomb squad had arrived on the site as well as a SWAT team. The perimeter has been sealed off by police, with a helicopter flying overhead, he said.

Officials told AFP no immediate motive for the attack was known and there was so far no report of any casualties. “The identity of the person is known and (they are) being actively pursued,” the official said, adding it was someone from the area

The Flawinne base in the central Belgian city is home to a commando battalion of 650 soldiers that participate in NATO operations and peacekeeping missions.