A transgender man was stabbed near Brussels in what it is suspected to be an Islamic State attack.

Sharky, a 26-year-old trans man from Tunisia, was attacked by two men in the municipality of Etterbeek, in the greater Brussels area.

He fled to Belgium in 2012, after facing threats and violence in his home country.

Although the attack happened on Saturday (11 June), reports only started emerging on Tuesday.

Sharky was stabbed in the abdomen several times.

18 + Brussels: a Tunisian transgender man violently attacked by religious extremists. pic.twitter.com/ZZugcML6Aq — Nadim نديم (@MENA_LGBT) June 13, 2016

After his attackers left off, he said he tried to walk but collapsed. A young man and a young woman found the unconscious man and called an ambulance and the police, he said.

Sharky is now under police surveillance.

This wasn’t the first attack on the 26-year-old: he said the men, who claim to be members of Islamic State, had already threatened him in Tunisia.

‘It all began on social media. At first I tried not to take the threats seriously, although they made it clear they were members of Islamic State,’ he told La Capitale.

‘They want to make me an example for young people who do not respect the religious law.

‘They said they only have to wait for an official command to behead me.’

Belgian’s Center for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism told Bruzz they took the attack – and Sharky’s allegations – very seriously.

The 26-year-old also filed a complaint with the police, and Brussels public prosecutor’s office confirmed the facts, but said they have no evidence in regards to the attackers motives.

No arrests have been made.