Belgian police arrest drunk man who waved gun and shouted 'Allahu Akbar' on Brussels metro

The incident happened as anti-terror operations were carried out across the country

Ribaucourt station (Google streetview)

Police in Belgium have arrested a drunk man who allegedly brandished a gun on the Brussels metro while shouting “Allahu Akbar” – “God is great”.

Three young women at Ribaucourt station, in Molenbeek, reported the incident to police at around 5pm as the man allegedly shouted religious phrases in Arabic and French.

The suspect left the underground and was chased by transport police towards the city’s canal, where he was arrested, La Libre reported. Brussels’ metro was briefly stopped during the hunt but resumed within minutes.

The arrest is not believed to be related to co-ordinated terror raids happening across Belgium at the time, which saw two suspects shot dead in the town of Verviers.

Belgian police inspect the entrance of an apartment in central Verviers during anti-terror raids (Reuters)

Police said the men were planning an imminent attack on a “grand scale” and had recently returned from fighting with Islamist groups in Syria.

Special forces who raided the property, killing the two men as snipers patrolled the rooftops, found four Kalashnikovs and bomb-making equipment among police uniforms.

Earlier in the day, prosecutors said they had detained a man in Belgium who they suspected of supplying weapons to Amedy Coulibaly, who killed four people at a Jewish supermarket last week.

The Belgian operations do not appear to be linked to the attacks in France but the national terror alert level has been raised from two to three – the second-highest state of alert.

Prime Minister Charles Michel said the increase in the threat level was “a choice for prudence.”

Up to 300 Belgian residents have gone to fight with extremist Islamic groups in Syria and it was unclear how many have returned.