A explosion "of criminal origin" at Belgium's national criminology institute in Brussels early Monday caused a fire and major damage but no casualties, officials said.
Belgian media said the blast was caused by a car which rammed the building.
It comes as Belgium remains on high alert following the devastating Daish-claimed suicide attacks on the city's airport and metro in March.
"There was no one at the site" in the northern Brussels suburb of Neder-Over-Heembeek, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office told AFP, refusing to comment on the cause except to say the explosion had a "criminal origin".
The prosecutor has set up a "crisis centre", the spokesman said.
Fire service spokesman Pierre Meys said "it was probably not accidental."
"The explosion was extremely powerful," said Meys.
"Windows of the lab were blown out dozens of metres away."
He said about 30 firefighters were at the scene at around 3:00am (0100 GMT) fighting the blaze.
RTBF television said two suspects rammed a car into the institute grounds and threw an incendiary device at it.
The institute is part of Belgium's federal justice system.
Among its tasks is to carry out scientific analyses linked to criminal cases and to study the functioning of the penal system.
Belgium on alert
Belgium has been high alert after suicide bombers struck Brussels airport and a metro station near the European Union headquarters on March 22, killing 32 people.
Those attacks were claimed by the Daish group, which controls large areas of territory in Iraq and Syria and has claimed numerous terror attacks in Europe in recent months.
The militant cell responsible for the Brussels attacks was also heavily involved in the November Paris attacks in which 130 people were killed and hundreds more wounded.
The bombmaker for the Paris attacks, Najim Laachraoui, blew himself up at Brussels airport.
Earlier this month it emerged that Belgian authorities were also hunting a cousin of the El Bakraoui brothers who also blew themselves up in the Brussels attacks.
Belgium has caught several people linked to the Brussels and Paris atrocities including Salah Abdeslam, the last surviving member of the Paris IS cell, who has since been extradited to France.
In June Belgian authorities approved a French extradition request for Mohamed Abrini, the "man in the hat" seen on CCTV footage with Laachraoui and Ibrahim El Bakraoui at Brussels airport.
Abrini has not yet been handed over pending further investigation into the Brussels attacks.
Agencies
Mon Aug 29 2016
A car rammed through the barriers at about 3 am local time and one or more attackers exploded a bomb near the laboratories which caught fire.
TH sedia penginapan bertaraf lima bintang untuk jemaah di Madinah
Tiga hotel yang dipilih terletak antara 50 hingga 200 meter dari Masjid Nabawi, selesa dan mesra OKU.
Permodalan pasaran saham Malaysia catat sejarah tertinggi - melepasi RM2 trilion
Indeks penanda aras FBM KLCI meningkat untuk hari keempat berturut-turut kepada 1,605.68, penutup tertinggi sejak 8 April 2022, diterajui oleh saham pengguna dan perbankan.
Lapangan terbang antarabangsa UK alami masalah sistem E-gate
Isu teknikal yang dialami di lapangan terbang terbesar di UK seperti di Heathrow itu turut menjejaskan kawalan pasport.
Isteri curang, malas masak ditikam dengan berus gigi hingga mati
Siasatan awal mendapati suspek bertindak menikam leher Risma Fatmawati dengan berus gigi kerana berasa sakit hati.
TikTok saman kerajaan AS
Saman difailkan di Mahkamah Rayuan Daerah Colombia atas alasan ia mencabuli Perlembagaan.
Selangor lancar kempen 'Stand With Faisal Halim. Stop The Violence!'
Faisal Halim hanya seorang insan kecil dari Pulau Pinang yang mempunyai impian besar.
Patuh santuni jemaah, petugas haji saban tahun
Kemahiran berkomunikasi, fasih berbahasa Arab, Melayu dan Bahasa Inggeris jadi nilai tambah kepada Pembantu Petugas Haji (PATUH) dalam menyantuni jemaah dan petugas haji dari Malaysia setiap kali ketibaan musim haji.
Operasi Israel di Rafah berbentuk terhad - AS
Operasi itu bertujuan mengekang penyeludupan senjata dan dana kepada kumpulan pejuang Hamas di Gaza.
AWANI Pagi: Harapan Palestin & pupuk sifat sukarelawan anak muda
Ikuti temuramah wartawan Afiezy Azaman dengan Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid, Presiden Majlis Perundingan Pertubuhan Islam Malaysia (MAPIM) di Kaherah, Mesir berkaitan isu Palestin.
#AWANInews #AWANIpagi
#AWANInews #AWANIpagi
'Henti serang Rafah atau tiada gencatan senjata' - Hamas
Osama Hamdan tegaskan pilihan kini berada di tangan Perdana Menteri Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu.