A German man has died and a British man was among two people injured in a knife attack in central Paris.
The German tourist was killed on the Quai de Grenelle, a few minutes from the Eiffel Tower, at around 8pm local time (7pm UK time) on Saturday.
The suspect was then chased by police and assaulted two others, including the Briton, with a hammer before being tasered and arrested.
President Emmanuel Macron described it as “a terrorist attack”.
Interior minister Gerald Darmanin said the attacker had shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) and told police he was upset because “so many Muslims are dying in Afghanistan and in Palestine”.
Mr Darmanin praised the police and said “there would doubtless have been others dead” if they had not responded quickly.
He did not identify the man but said he is French. He left prison after four years in 2020 and was under surveillance, as well as undergoing psychiatric treatment.
The anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office has confirmed it has opened an investigation.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are supporting a British man who was injured in Paris and are in contact with the local authorities.”
The attack comes less than eight months before Paris hosts the Olympic Games and could raise questions about security at the global sporting event.
France has been under a heightened terror alert since the fatal stabbing in October of a teacher in the northern city of Arras by a former student originally from the Ingushetia region in Russia’s Caucasus Mountains.
“We will cede nothing in the face of terrorism. Never,” France’s Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on X, formerly Twitter, following Saturday’s attack. (Sky)
