HUNDREDS of Belgian special agents have been deployed to comb the countryside for a far-right soldier on the run who is considered armed and dangerous.

Helicopters are scanning the Hoge Kempen national park; roads through it have been closed and residents told to stay indoors.

Jurgen Conings was a Belgian army marksman for over three decades before being disciplined in recent months for issuing threats and making racist remarks on Facebook. He fought in the US-led invasion of Afghanistan.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo is facing criticism over how Mr Conings was able to get his hands on heavy weaponry after he was identified as a risk, as an anti-vaccination agitator, who threatened Belgian virologist Marc Van Ranst, even apparently staking out his house, he was merely confined to a desk job after tweeting “Who has Van Ranst’s address?”

He then went on the run after taking four rocket launchers, a submachine gun, a pistol and a bulletproof vest from his barracks. The rocket launchers have been found in an abandoned car. He left one note saying he plans to kill himself rather than live in a world run by “politicians and virologists,” and another saying he was going to join “the resistance.”

Army sources described their colleague as “an extreme right-wing weapons nut who does not shy away from violence” and “an anti-vaxer who hates Van Ranst,” according to Het Laatste Nieuws.

Links between the German military and the far right are also under the spotlight as the trial of army officer “Franco A” got under way on Thursday in Frankfurt.

The officer had assumed a false identity as a Syrian refugee, succeeding in registering as one while continuing to report for duty as a soldier. A large cache of weapons was found at a friend’s house and Nazi memorabilia was discovered displayed in the common room of his barracks.

Prosecutors say he planned to stage terrorist atrocities and provoke a backlash against immigrants. He claims he was attempting to expose weaknesses in the immigration system and the weapons were to defend his family in an “emergency.” The case has alarmed Germans following a string of exposés indicating far-right activity within the military.