[9][4][10] Belgium, which had been on high alert since a Brussels-based Islamic State (IS) cell was involved in the November 2015 Paris attacks and the March 2016 Brussels bombings that killed 32 people,[2] lowered its alert level in January 2018 citing the defeat of ISIS and a reduction in the number of people coming to Belgium from Syria.

[10] The Belgian parliament issued a report in 2018 warning that convicts in the country had been behind several recent attacks in Europe and further expressed concerns that hundreds of prisoners deemed radical by authorities are due to be released in the coming years.

[citation needed] At about 10:30, outside the Aux Augustins café in Liege's city centre,[11] the attacker shouted "Allahu Akbar", according to Federal Magistrate Wenke Rogen[12] and according to a video reported by La Repubblica.

[11] A 22-year-old male, Cyril Vangriecken, was also killed in an attempted car-jacking before the perpetrator went into the Athénée de Waha high school and tried to take a female cleaner hostage who was left unharmed after she told the attacker that she was a Muslim who observed Ramadan, and persuaded him to not harm the pupils.

[2][10] The method of the attack, repeatedly stabbing the policewomen before using their own firearms to kill them, while shouting "Allahu Akbar", was said by investigators to be specifically encouraged by the Islamic State.

[7] Benjamin Herman, a 31-year-old Belgian, was reported as the perpetrator[15] who had been released from prison on 28 May[17] on a one-day parole after being held for drug offences.

[17][21] On 30 May, Amaq News Agency, linked to the Islamic State, claimed that a "soldier of the Caliphate" had responded to the proscribed group's call to attack citizens of countries in the international coalition fighting it.

[citation needed] The day after the attack, a ceremony honouring the victims was held in Espace Tivoli in Liège at 13:00 which was observed by many police officers, politicians, and members of the public.