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Knife assault that killed one and injured a number of in France was ‘Islamist terrorism’, says Macron

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One person has been killed and several police officers injured in a knife attack in France that president Emmanuel Macron described as “Islamist terrorism”.

A man shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest”) launched the attack at a packed market in the eastern city of Mulhouse on Saturday afternoon, France‘s anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said.

A 37-year-old Algerian man was arrested, according to the prosecutors’ office, which is investigating the stabbings. The suspect had been on a list of people flagged for radicalism, the regional prosecutor added.

The attack unfolded at around 4pm in a covered market by the Market Square and canal in the middle of Mulhouse, when it was packed with shoppers (AFP via Getty Images)

The victim was a 69-year-old Portuguese man, the anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said, while those wounded, who numbered at least two, were police officers who intervened.

Mr Macron called the knifeman “an Islamic extremist”, saying: “It is without any doubt an act of Islamist terrorism.”

The government had “complete determination” to respond to the attack, he said, as he also expressed “the solidarity of the nation” with those attacked and their loved ones.

The suspect has now been arrested, France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said (AFP via Getty Images)

He said specialist prosecutors were investigating the attack, which happened at around 4pm in a covered market by the Market Square and canal in the middle of Mulhouse, an area packed with shoppers at the time, near the borders with Germany and Switzerland.

The attacker, who has not been identified by authorities, was reportedly unhurt, and later arrested, before being taken to a secure police station, where he remained on Saturday evening.

French interior minister Bruno Retailleau was on his way to Mulhouse.

The French president said specialist prosecutors were investigating the attack (AFP via Getty Images)

Michele Lutz, mayor of Mulhouse, said: ‘”Horror has just gripped our city.”

French prime minister Francois Bayrou wrote on social media: “Fanaticism has struck again and we are in mourning. My thoughts naturally go to the victims and their families, with the firm hope that the wounded will recover. Congratulations to the police for their rapid intervention.”

By Saturday night, the market was closed off and surrounded by forensics officers. Soldiers and special forces police with guns drawn were being used to secure the area.

It follows a series of bomb, gun and knife attacks carried out by Islamic State and al-Qaeda operatives across France, that have left the country on high alert for extremist threats.

Source: independent.co.uk

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