French officers launch probe into ‘terror plot’ close to the Eiffel Tower
- Armand Rajabpour-Miyandoab was recognized to authorities as a radical Islamist
- Three folks ‘near’ Rajabpour-Miyandoab have been being held in custody
French officers final night time launched a probe right into a ‘terror plot’ after a convicted Iranian Islamist allegedly stabbed a German vacationer to dying and wounded two others together with a Briton.
Armand Rajabpour-Miyandoab, 26, was arrested on the scene on Saturday following a violent rampage with a knife and hammer close to the Eiffel Tower.
He viciously attacked three males, together with a 24-year-old German-Filipino nurse who suffered a deadly coronary heart assault following the assault, which happened in entrance of his spouse and a feminine good friend.
He then allegedly focused a 66-year-old British vacationer within the lobby of a block of flats, plunging a knife into his proper eye, earlier than hitting a 60-year-old French father across the head with a hammer as he was out strolling together with his spouse and youngster.
Terrorism prosecutors mentioned on Sunday they have been investigating the attacker, who is suspected of homicide and tried homicide, ‘in reference to a terrorist plot’.
Three folks ‘near’ Rajabpour-Miyandoab have been being held in custody yesterday afternoon following the incident by Bir Hakeim bridge over the River Seine, prosecutors mentioned.
Armand Rajabpour-Miyandoab, 26, (pictured) was launched from jail in 2020, and left to dwell at dwelling together with his dad and mom whereas present process ‘psychiatric and neurological therapy’
A French nationwide born to Iranian dad and mom and recognized radical Islamist, he shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ – Arabic for ‘God is best’ – and professed his assist for ISIS as he launched into his vicious assault, in line with Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin.
The 26-year-old suspect had beforehand been sentenced in 2016 to 4 years in jail for a failed assault within the Paris enterprise district of La Defense, and Darmanin confirmed the suspect had formally been on an ‘S-list’, for surveillance.
The lethal assault throughout a busy weekend at round 9pm (8pm within the UK) close to the Eiffel Tower got here as France is at its highest alert degree, as rigidity rise amid the struggle between Israel and Hamas.
Rajabpour-Miyandoab was set free of jail early in 2020, and left to dwell at dwelling together with his dad and mom, within the Essonne area south of Paris, whereas present process ‘psychiatric and neurological therapy’.
He instructed police he couldn’t stand Muslims being killed in ‘Afghanistan and Palestine’ and accused France of being ‘an confederate to what Israel is doing’ within the Gaza Strip, Darmanin added.
Investigators will scrutinise his medical historical past, a safety supply instructed AFP, saying the attacker was ‘very unstable and simply influenced’.
Rajabpour-Miyandoab was ‘being monitored in a manner that didn’t imply he was being hospitalised, and was speculated to comply with a course of therapy’ for his psychological well being points, mentioned Aurélien Rousseau, the French well being minister.
Armand Rajabpour-Miyandoab shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ as he was taken in by Paris police, who immobilised him with a stun gun
‘As typically in these instances, there is a combination of an ideology, an simply influenced particular person and, sadly, psychiatry,’ he added.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote on X that he was ‘devastated’ by the assault, saying that ‘our ideas are with the wounded, their households and buddies’.
His Interior Minister Nancy Faeser had earlier warned that ‘the struggle in Gaza after Hamas’ terrorist act (of October 7) has worsened the menace,’ saying that ‘the specter of Islamist terrorism is acute and severe’.
Police and safety sources confirmed the attacker had claimed duty in a social media video as he struck, talking about ‘present occasions, the federal government (and) the homicide of harmless Muslims’.
The 24-year-old German-Filipino nurse was killed as a taxi driver intervened to maintain the attacker away from his spouse.
Patrick Pelloux, an emergency physician on obligation on the time of the assault, mentioned the couple have been each nurses, including that the girl was severely shocked however unharmed.
Video of the suspect’s arrest exhibits him slowly backing away from a number of French law enforcement officials whereas carrying what seems to be a hammer.
Two officers stride in the direction of him as he backs away on the nook of a avenue in Paris.
Following a chase, and the intervention of a taxi driver, Rajabpour-Miyandoab was lastly disabled by police utilizing tasers.
Rousseau instructed broadcaster France 3 that the wounded victims suffered solely ‘superficial (bodily) traumas, however in fact psychological traumas that might be monumental’.
On Sunday each surviving victims have been nonetheless present process medical care – one on the Georges Pompidou hospital in Paris, the opposite on the metropolis’s Cochin hospital. Their situation was mentioned to be ‘secure’.
Prosecutors introduced a press convention for 7:30 pm on Sunday to provide updates on the investigation.
French gendarmes patrol the Trocadero plaza close to the Eiffel Tower following the massacre on Saturday
French police attend the scene following the terrorist knife assault close to the Bir Hakeim bridge and Quai de Grenelle
A forensic police officer works on the scene on Saturday night time following the phobia assault within the French capital
Rajabpour-Miyandoab transformed to Islam in 2015 after being radicalised on-line by an ISIS supporter, in line with prosecution paperwork.
Rajabpour-Miyandoab was well-known for forging on-line hyperlinks with different terrorists together with Larossi Aballa, who went on to stab two law enforcement officials to dying in Magnanville in June 2016.
Another Facebook good friend was Adel Kermiche, one of many perpetrators of the stabbing to dying of a Catholic priest in Saint-Étienne du Rouvray in the identical 12 months.
Many of these linked with such crimes have been, like Rajabpour-Miyandoab, on an S-File, which implies they’re formally beneath surveillance.
Rajabpour-Miyandoab later claimed to have accomplished a ‘deradicalization programme’, claiming he had misplaced curiosity in terrorism.
In court docket in 2018, he mentioned: ‘Islamism was ruining my life,’ whereas claiming he had taken to ingesting beer and consuming pork – actions that are barred to practising Muslims.
But on-line exercise confirmed that Rajabpour-Miyandoab was nonetheless researching learn how to make phosphorus bombs, and posted a video of himself disguised, and making political statements.
The attacker, who has been named domestically as Armand R., shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ as he was taken in by Paris police, who immobilised him with a stun gun
The lethal assault in central Paris throughout a busy weekend night time got here with the nation on its highest alert for assault
The assault has rocked France, which has seen tensions rise amid the Israel-Hamas battle
Tensions have risen in France, dwelling to massive Jewish and Muslim populations, following Hamas’s assault on Israel on October 7 and Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip
The lethal assault in central Paris throughout a busy weekend night time got here with the nation on its highest alert for assaults, as tensions rise towards the background of the struggle between Israel and Hamas.
The second sufferer of the assault was British, and was out strolling together with his spouse when Armand R. attacked him from behind.
‘The household have been on the Avenue President Kennedy once they have been set upon,’ mentioned an investigating supply, who added: ‘A hammer was used to hit the person over the pinnacle.’
The Englishman was rushed to hospital, the place his situation was later described as ‘secure’. A 3rd sufferer was additionally badly harm in a hammer assault, mentioned the supply.
The UK’s Foreign Office mentioned on Sunday: ‘We are supporting a British man who was injured in Paris, and are involved with the native authorities.’
The space by Bir Hakeim bridge, normally thronging with vacationers and locals, was cordoned off by police and vivid with the flashing lights of safety forces and emergency companies.
A taxi driver who witnessed the scene intervened, Darmanin mentioned.
‘He had threatened them very violently… he’ll now need to reply for his actions earlier than justice,’ Darmanin mentioned.
The assault has rocked France, which has seen tensions rise amid the Israel-Hamas battle.
President Emmanuel Macron mentioned he was sending his condolences to the household of a German killed within the ‘terrorist assault’.
A police supply mentioned that the attacker was recognized for psychiatric issues and had mentioned he couldn’t stand Muslims being killed on the planet. Pictured: French police secures the entry to the Bir-Hakeim bridge
A person has been stabbed to dying whereas a British vacationer is reportedly amongst two others badly injured after a knifeman screaming ‘Allahu Akbar’ launched a frenzied assault in Paris. Pictured: Police secures the entry to the Bir-Hakeim bridge close to the Eiffel Tower
A police supply mentioned that the attacker was recognized for psychiatric issues and had mentioned he couldn’t stand Muslims being killed on the planet
Macron, writing on X, thanked safety forces for his or her fast arrest of the suspected attacker and mentioned justice needs to be served ‘within the identify of the French folks’.
‘We won’t give in to terrorism,’ Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne wrote on X after the assault.
‘Paris is in mourning after this horrible assault,’ Transport Minister Clement Beaune wrote on X.
Joseph S., a 37-year-old grocery store supervisor who requested to not give his final identify, witnessed the scene as he sat in a bar, and mentioned he heard screams and other people shouting ‘assist, assist’ as they ran.
He mentioned a person wielding an object attacked a person who had fallen down, and inside 10 minutes the police arrived.
One particular person died and one other was injured, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin mentioned on social media platform X
Police officers stand guard. Officers mentioned there was no early indication as to the motive of the stabbing
France has suffered a number of assaults by Islamist extremists, together with the November 2015 suicide and gun assaults in Paris claimed by the Islamic State group by which 130 folks have been killed.
There had been a relative lull lately, whilst officers have warned that the menace stays.
But tensions have risen in France, dwelling to massive Jewish and Muslim populations, following Hamas’s assault on Israel on October 7 and Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
Security in Paris can also be beneath specific scrutiny because it gears as much as host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.
In October, instructor Dominique Bernard was killed within the northern French city of Arras by a younger radicalised Islamist from Russia’s Caucasus area.
