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Cops swooped on the building in the Forest neighbourhood today and a major stand off between them and the apparent gunmen lasted three hours.

Police confirmed they were responding to reports of a murder.

They ruled out any links to terrorism.

An official said: "A special operation is being carried out.

(Image: REX)

"There may be one or more armed people in the house."

Residents were ordered to stay in their homes, and a primary school nearby was placed on lockdown.

An extensive cordon was placed around the scene.

The mayor of Forest, Marc-Jean Ghyssels, confirmed police were at the scene because of the "suspicion of the presence of armed men".

(Image: REX) (Image: REX)

Images emerged of armed officers hiding behind buildings. They found nothing at the scene.

The Forest area was the scene of the shootout between Paris suspect Salah Abdeslam and terror police after the attacks in the French capital in 2015.

He was eventually arrested, with his trial expected to begin in 2019.

Commenting on today's stand-off, a police spokeswoman said: "They are searching the buildings but we can say there has not been any terrorist attack."

(Image: REX) (Image: REX) (Image: REX)

Brussels is still on alert after suicide bombers killed 32 people at the airport and on the metro in March 2016.

The Foreign Office says terrorists are "very likely to carry out attacks in Belgium".

It adds: "Attacks could happen anywhere, including on public transport and transport hubs and in other places visited by foreigners."