A machete-wielding attacker who shouted 'Allahu Akbar' before injuring two policewomen has died after being shot by a third officer.

The man, who was armed with the knife, stabbed the two officers outside the police station in the Belgian city of Charleroi - 38 miles south of the capital Brussels.

They were injured during the attack and one of the female officers suffered significant 'wounds to the face', according to reports.

B elgian Prime Minister Charles Michel today condemned the attack and said that it appeared to be a terrorist incident.

He told broadcaster RTL: 'Initial indications very clearly point towards terrorism.'

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Armed police officers were seen surrounding the area near the police station in Charleroi after the attack

The man, who was armed with a machete, attacked the two police officers outside the station (pictured)

Emergency services raced to the scene in Charleroi, Belgium, where two female officers were wounded

Officers were carrying guns as they surrounded the premises following the attack on their colleagues

Local police said a third officer then shot the perpetrator who later died from his injuries.

The police force tweeted: 'Two police officers injured by machete in front of police by someone shouting Allah Akhkbar. Individual was shot.'

Prime Minister Michel has cut short his holiday in the south of France and will return to Belgium for a meeting on Sunday with the National Security Council.

The machete attack took place at a wooden hut that had been erected outside the Charleroi police station.

Paul Magnette, mayor of the city in southern Belgium, said the checkpoint succeeded in preventing the attacker from reaching the building and causing more havoc.

The mayor added that in the wake of the attack, Belgian authorities are discussing whether security for police facilities and officers should be beefed up further.

Michel condemned the attack which happened as the country remains on high alert in the wake of the Brussels suicide bombings claimed by the Islamic State group that killed 32 people in March.

The Prime Minister wrote on Twitter: 'I condemn the attack in Charleroi with force. Thoughts are with the victims, their relatives and the police. We are monitoring the situation closely.'

Officers from Charleroi Police rushed to the local station following the attack on their colleagues

Belgian police have stepped up patrols following a number of incidents and a number were today guarding the station in Charleroi

The attack took place in Charleroi, Belgium, which remains on high alert in the wake of attacks which killed 32 people in March this year

The attack, which came out of the blue, occurred in broad daylight in the industrial city of Charleroi, Belgium

Police officers from the station at Charelroi patrol the place where two policewomen were attacked

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel condemned the attack and wrote: 'Thoughts are with the victims'

Michel added that the identity of the assailant who attacked the officers in the city wasn't immediately known.

He told RTL television he has asked the independent OCAM agency to immediately assess whether there is an increased threat to Belgian internal security.

Charleroi police spokesman David Quinaux says the attacker carried a machete in a sports bag and pulled it out as he arrived at a security checkpoint outside the city's police headquarters in mid-afternoon.

Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon said it wasn't immediately clear if the assault, which he called an 'act of barbarism' was the deed of a single person or something more elaborate.

He told RTF television: 'We don't know if this is the action of a lone wolf.'

The machete attack took place at a wooden hut that had been erected outside the Charleroi police station to provide an additional layer of security

Officers surrounded the station following the attack on two female police officers

An investigating source said: 'She (one of the female officers) was rushed to hospital and is in a particularly bad way.

'A third officer shot the attacker, and he in turn was rushed to hospital with serious injuries.'

The incident follows a string of terrorists attacks in Belgium and nearby France by Islamic State operatives using a range of weapons.

A witness told local television RTL he heard gunshots at the scene and saw an ambulance. The area has tonight been sealed off.

Two police officers were injured by a machete-wielding attacker outside their local police station (pictured)

The local police force today confirmed that the attacker had died from his injuries

Charleroi has often been associated with extremist gangs, especially as a place where weapons are kept

Charleroi has often been associated with extremist gangs, especially as a place where weapons are kept.

The ISIS unit which attacked Paris last November, killing 130 people in one night, is said to have picked up its AK47 and explosives in the city before heading for the French capital.

Belgium has a large Muslim minority and was the scene of an attack in March by a group swearing allegiance to ISIS.

The Belgian district of Molenbeek was also the home of several of the Paris attackers.

Charleroi is an industrial city in Wallonia which has fallen on hard times economically after the closure of coal mines and steel works.