Dutch Police Shoot Man Waving Axe

Dutch police have shot and wounded a Syrian man who attacked officers after alarmed neighbours reported he was on an apartment balcony waving an axe and shouting "Allahu akbar".

Police say the shooting happened in Schiedam near the port city of Rotterdam on Wednesday when police tried unsuccessfully to calm the 26-year-old man.

When an arrest team entered the apartment, the man attacked them and stabbed a police dog, which later died of its injuries.

Schiedam Mayor Cor Lamers issued a statement saying the suspect was a Syrian who had been living with his father in Schiedam since last year.

The confrontation came a day after a man in Belgium attacked and killed two female police officers and fatally shot a passer-by.