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One dead and several police officers wounded in knife attack in France Man killed intervening in knife attack on French police officers
(about 1 hour later)
Emmanuel Macron says attack is ‘without any doubt act of Islamist terrorism’ Macron says knife attack is ‘without any doubt an act of Islamist terrorism’
One person has died and two police officers have been seriously injured in a knife attack during a demonstration in eastern France, the local prosecutor has said. A 69-year-old man who intervened when a suspected terrorist attacked police officers with a knife shouting “Allahu Akbar” has died in eastern France.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said: “It is without any doubt an act of Islamist terrorism.” Two police officers were also seriously injured in the suspected Islamist terrorist act, which took place in the city of Mulhouse during a demonstration in support of the Congo on Saturday afternoon. Three other police officers were lightly wounded.
Three more officers were lightly wounded when a man attacked local police officers in the city of Mulhouse, shouting “Allahu Akbar”, meaning “God is greatest” in Arabic, on Saturday afternoon, the anti-terror prosecutors unit (PNAT) office said. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said the knife attack was “without any doubt an act of Islamist terrorism”. The suspected attacker, an Algerian male who has been arrested, is on a terror prevention watchlist, according to the anti-terrorism prosecution office (PNAT).
A passerby was killed trying to intervene, it said. He has been under judicial supervision and house arrest, and was under an expulsion order from France, according to union sources.
The suspected attacker, who has been arrested, is on a terror prevention watchlist, prosecutor Nicolas Heitz told AFP. Shortly before 4pm, he attacked local police officers shouting “God is greatest” in Arabic, PNAT said in a statement. Witnesses confirmed to Agence France-Presse that the suspect had several times shouted the phrase.
The list compiles data from various authorities on people to prevent terrorist radicalisation. It was launched in 2015 after deadly attacks on the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and on a Jewish supermarket. One of the seriously wounded police officers sustained an injury to the carotid artery, and the other to the thorax.
One of the seriously wounded police officers sustained an injury to the carotid artery, and the other to the thorax, Heitz said. The passerby, who is understood to have been a Portuguese national, was killed trying to intervene, the PNAT said.
The interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, was expected to travel to the scene of the attack later on Saturday.
Police established a security perimeter after the attack, which happened shortly before 4pm during a demonstration in support of Congo.
The suspect is Algerian and has been under judicial supervision and house arrest, and under an expulsion order from France, according to union sources.
“Horror has seized our city,” Mulhouse mayor Michèle Lutz said on Facebook. The incident was being investigated as a terror attack, she said, but “this must obviously still be confirmed by the judiciary”.“Horror has seized our city,” Mulhouse mayor Michèle Lutz said on Facebook. The incident was being investigated as a terror attack, she said, but “this must obviously still be confirmed by the judiciary”.
France’s national PNAT said it was taking charge of the investigation. The French interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, is expected to travel to the scene of the attack on Saturday evening. Police have established a security perimeter after the attack, as forensic scientists searched for evidence. Military units have been sent to the scene as backup.
The government was determined to continue doing “everything to eradicate terrorism on our soil”, Macron said. The “solidarity of the nation” was with the attack victim and his family, he added.
France’s terror prevention list compiles data from various authorities on people to prevent terrorist radicalisation. It was launched in 2015 after deadly attacks on the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and on a Jewish supermarket.