Crime - German killed in suspected terror attack in Paris
A suspected Islamist killed a German tourist with a knife in Paris not far from the Eiffel Tower on Saturday evening. Two other people were injured, one of them with a hammer.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that the police had arrested the suspected perpetrator. During a visit to the crime scene, Darmanin said, according to television station BFMTV, that the perpetrator was known to the domestic intelligence service for radical Islamism and "significant mental disorders".
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his condolences to the relatives of the German national who died. Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne wrote on X: "We will not give in to terrorism. Never." The national anti-terrorism prosecutor's office announced that it would look into the attack.
More people injured
The attacker had attacked a "German tourist couple" on a bridge that evening; the woman had not been physically injured but had suffered shock, Darmanin said.
The man was hit in the back and shoulder and suffered a cardiac arrest, reported the newspaper "Le Parisien", citing the police. The attacker then fled and attacked two other people before being arrested. The police used a stun gun to apprehend the attacker.
Darmanin said that the two injured were a Frenchman aged around 60 and a foreign tourist who had been injured with a hammer. According to media reports, the attacker was an Englishman.
Attacker is said to be French
The attacker is reported to be a Frenchman of Iranian descent born in 1997. Darmanin went on to say that the suspected perpetrator had said after his arrest that he could no longer bear to see Muslims die in both Afghanistan and Palestine.
The man was of the opinion that France was complicit in Israel's war in the Gaza Strip and wanted to die as a martyr. The arrested man had reportedly already been sentenced to four years in prison in 2016 following a failed attack plan.
The man is said to have shouted "Allahu Akbar" (meaning "God is greatest") when he was arrested, BFMTV and "Le Parisien" reported, citing the police. A video claiming responsibility had also been found. According to "Le Parisien", the alleged perpetrator is said to have sworn allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist organization. In it, he is said to claim that he is acting to "avenge the Muslims".
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Source: www.stern.de
