Gunfire in Brussels has killed one person in what Belgian officials say was the fourth shooting in the past week believed linked to drug gangs, prompting a government vow to boost police on the city’s streets.

One person died after a shooting in Brussels that was likely linked to clashes between rival drug gangs, the local prosecutor's office said on Friday, highlighting rising crime in the Belgian capital city which also hosts the main EU institutions.

A spree of drug-linked shootings, one deadly, has set Brussels on edge with authorities appearing powerless to stem a rise in violent crime linked to a booming narcotics trade. District mayor Fabrice Cumps said the shootings were probably linked.