Military barracks are attacked by a gunman in Flawinne, near the city of Namur in Belgium, with shots having been fired, a Belgian newspaper says.

The gunman, who was wearing a balaclava, fled the scene after he was shot at while attempting and failing to enter the military barracks.

Reports say no one was hurt in the incident.

"One car tried to get into the barracks. There was one person in the car. He fled," the Associated Press quoted Belgian Defense Cabinet chief Lieutenant General Claude Van De Voorde as saying.

He could not confirm media reports that the car was explosive-laden, saying, “People start making up things quickly.”

Belgium has been on high alert for extremist attacks since May 2014 when a gunman killed four people in an attack on a museum in Brussels.

In January, police launched a counter-terrorism raid in the eastern city of Verviers, killing two would-be terrorist assailants.

According to a preliminary report this month by a UN Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries, 500 people were estimated to have been recruited from Belgium to join Takfiri Daesh militants fighting in Iraq and Syria.