Belgium army base car attack: 'Terrorism not the motive' Published duration 26 October 2015

image copyright EPA image caption No explosives were found in the car

Belgium has said there are no signs that terrorism was the motive behind an attack on army barracks near the city of Namur.

Belgian police have arrested a suspect after a masked gunman tried to crash his car through the gates of the army barracks.

The man drove off after the attempted attack, during which Belgian soldiers fired shots. No-one was hurt.

The attack happened in Flawinne, south-east of Brussels.

"For the moment there are no elements which would allow us to say we are facing a terrorist examination," a spokesman for prosecutors in Namur told a press conference.

"The theory of an isolated incident or one of a psychologically unstable person cannot be ruled out," he said.

The car was found abandoned nearby.

Belgian officials say the attacker's identity is known.

"There is nothing to suggest there are others involved," local prosecutor Vincent Macq was quoted as saying.

image copyright AFP / GETTY IMAGES image caption Police patrol outside the army barracks

Earlier an official described the attack on a barracks as "incomprehensible" because "there are plenty of weapons there to strike back".

Pictures from the scene showed a bomb disposal team called to examine the abandoned car.

Local reports initially said the car was carrying a suspected explosive device, but no explosives were found in the car.

A nearby police academy was evacuated, according to local media reports.

In January, Belgian police killed two men in a major counter-terrorism raid, just a week after the deadly Charlie Hebdo attack by gunmen in the French capital Paris.

image copyright AP image caption A bomb disposal expert approaches the suspect car, which was abandoned near Namur

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