Knifeman attacks police at Palace

A MAN was arrested last night for attacking two police officers with a knife just yards from the gates of Buckingham Palace.

The officers suffered minor injuries in the course of arresting the man.

Scotland Yard said he was stopped for acting suspiciously on The Mall, just outside the royal grounds, a little after 8.30pm. After the officers were injured, he was detained on suspicion of grievous bodily harm and assault.

He was also being assessed for mental health issues. The London Ambulance Service attended to treat the injured officers but they were not taken to hospital.

No other people were injured, police said.

The Queen is currently at Balmoral in Scotland.

It came as a man was shot in the centre of Brussels after attacking two soldiers with a knife.

One soldier received a wound to the face, the other suffered a hand injury. The attacker is in a critical state in hospital. A police source said: ‘With the identity that we currently have, it is a 30-year-old man who is not known for terrorist activities.’

The attack took place on Boulevard Emile Jacqmain in the centre of the city.

The presence of soldiers on the streets is part of a largescale security operation designed to reassure the public in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Brussels in March last year, in which 32 people were killed.