A knife-wielding man attacked and injured a policeman before being shot and injured by another police officer in Brussels on Monday, AFP reported, citing police.

The attacker was shot in the chest and the leg when the second officer opened fire three times, and was sent to hospital.

"There is no definitive answer about the identity of the suspect. The suspect's motives are not known. We have no indication of a terrorist motive," the prosecutor's office said.

"The incident occurred in the Maximilien park area (Ferme du Parc Maximilien), where a police officer was slightly wounded after a man attacked him with a knife, his colleagues used batons and gas canisters to neutralize the attacker; he continued to threaten, then (the officer) had to use his weapon; he was also wounded," said police spokeswoman Ilse Van Der Keere.

According to the prosecutor's office, an officer had found the suspect resting on a pavement and had asked him to move on, after which the individual drew a knife.

The Maximilien park area is known as a gathering point for mainly North African immigrants hoping to head on to Britain, according to the spokeswoman.