A woman was taken hostage by a suspected terrorist at a tram stop in Brussels today, witnesses say.
Police shot the suspect as part of a fresh swoop to thwart an 'imminent attack' on France.
A second suspect was also shot in the raid, which began in a flat nearby in the Schaerbeek area of north Brussels.
Dramatic footage shows police coaxing a child away from the injured suspect who was shot in the leg at the tram stop amid reports he was carrying explosives.
Belgian prosecutors confirmed the man was linked to a planned attack in France, foiled by the French authorities last night Thursday.
Eyewitness videos show the incident unfolding at the tram stop where the 'neutralised' suspect dropped the bag, which was then investigated by a bomb robot.
The suspect appears unwilling to let go of the bag as the bomb disposable robot approaches
A group of women visiting a hair salon opposite the tram stop described the moment they saw police swoop on the man standing with his bag.
They said the man had been standing at the tram stop with a woman who was apparently with a young girl.
As police arrived, the man is said to have pulled the woman to the floor with him - apparently holding her hostage. However, the armed officers were able to pull her to safety quickly, dragging the man to the side, the shaken women recounted.
Police then run over and drag the man away from the tram stop - forcing him to drop the bag
Three people have been detained in the fresh wave of raids with authorities naming them as Tawfik A., Salah A., and the third, unnamed man taken in the Schaerbeek operation.
Two of the three - Tawfik A and the man detained in Schaerbeek - were wounded in the leg, the statement said.
The raid in Schaerbeek comes as:
Six were arrested during police raids in Brussels on Thursday night in connection with the bomb attacks and a new terror plot
Friday's Schaerbeek raid has been linked to the arrest of convicted ISIS recruiter Reda Kriket in Paris - also on Thursday night
Kriket, a 34-year-old Frenchman, had been in the 'advances stages' of planning an attack in France prior to his arrest, and was found with heavy weapons and explosives in his apartment
Two men were held in Germany suspected of being linked to the Brussels bombers
Claims that Paris terror suspect Salah Abdeslam was plotting a machine gun massacre over Easter before he was arrested
Belgian police drag a suspect along a tramway platform after the suspect was shot, in the Brussels borough of Schaerbeek
Videos from the scene show armed police officers hiding behind a car, and shooting a man holding a bag, believed to have contained explosives, who falls to the ground.
As the man lies at the tram stop, police approach, followed by a man dressed in an orange hoodie who appears to be calling for someone out of shot.
As the camera moves to include the tram stop, it shows a young child crouching by the side of the shot suspect - believed to be the young girl who had been waiting at the tram stop.
The man in orange manages to convince the child to leave the suspect on the ground, and police initially back away.
Once the child is safe, another video, shot from a different angle, then shows armed officers running over to the suspect and dragging him away from the tram stop - forcing him to drop the bag.
Moments later, a bomb robot rolls in and lifts the rucksack, after which a member of a bomb squad arrives to inspect the bag. Pictures taken shortly afterwards show smoke rising from the backpack, indicating that police had been correct in their fears that they contained explosives.
Witnesses told local media police had shot the man in the leg at a tram stop after he failed to respond to their orders. One witness told RTBF the man had a girl of about eight with him.
‘I heard two explosions, they were shooting. I opened the window and saw a man lying near the tram stop. The police ordered him to show his hands, remove his jacket. They said that if he did not comply, they would use their weapons,’ a witness who lives nearby told La Libre newspaper.
The operation was carried out in Schaerbeek - a residential area in northern Brussels where police carried out several raids on Thursday night
The Mayor of Schaerbeek, Bernard Clerfayt, later confirmed that 'a person was intercepted by police and suffered a slight leg injury.'
He added there had been several small explosions linked to bomb disposal work.
It is understood police were raiding a flat in Schaerbeek, by the Meiser place tram stop, however it is not clear whether the suspect who was later shot escaped the raid or had already left the building.
He was tracked to the Meiser place tram stop, where police swooped.
Sources at the scene said a man inside the flat carrying explosives may have been about to launch a suicide attack.
It is thought two unmarked cars pulled up outside a house, after which two explosions were heard - one of which is understood to blown open the door.
There is speculation that one of the explosions may have been a stun grenade.
Another video shows police officers approaching the shot suspect with a man in orange walking behind them
As the camera moves to include the tram stop, it shows a child crouching by the side of the shot suspect, and the man in orange calls for the boy or girl to leave the man
The man in orange manages to convince the child to leave the suspect on the ground, and police back away
A witness of today's raid told how they heard a 'bomb' go off close to the offices of the Belgian broadcaster RTBF.
Salah Eddine, 42, a hotel receptionist said: 'There was an explosion, a bomb, in the square over there, close to the offices of RTBF, the national broadcaster.
'I lived just around the corner. I am married, we have a daughter. This is terrifying. It's terrible, too much.'
An eye witness had described how she heard a bang and saw a man lying on the ground, Manon, 22, a university student said: 'I was standing on the balcony at home by the square.
'I heard a shot, like a bang and I looked down and i saw a man lying on the ground. I went back into the flat and I heard the found of breaking glass.
'There were people running away. Then i heard the sirens and police started arriving. Later i saw a man with a mask and a gun. I think he was a policeman.'
Meanwhile there have been separate reports today of another raid in a Belgian town 60 miles south of Brussels.
Three men of foreign origin were arrested at an 80-bedroom hotel in Dinant and police are searching the evacuated building for explosives.
The town’s mayor Richard Fournaux said it was too early to say whether the operation was linked to the bombings earlier this week.
Two suspect packages have been found – one in a car near the building, which was hosting a business conference, and one in a hotel room.
Bomb disposal experts are examining both packages.
Bag goes boom: Smoke rises after a bomb squad unit robot grabbed the shot suspect's rucksack at the tram station
A police officer can be seen standing by the tram stop, as a train is seen having stopped just feet away from the scene, as the bomb robot lifts the bag
The robot is seen lifting the bag from the track as officers walk in the background
A bomb robot and a member of a bomb squad inspects the suspicious package at the scene
A Belgian bomb disposal expert in heavy protection gear examines a suspicious object at the scene of an apparent operation against terror suspects near the Meizer round about in Schaerbeek
A tram which had stopped just feet away from the scene had to be evacuated during the fresh anti-terrorist operation which was connected to a foiled terror plot in France
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