One person died and three others were seriously injured on Saturday in a knife attack in France’s Mulhouse that President Emmanuel Macron said was an ‘Islamist terror act’, Reuters reported.
France’s national anti-terror prosecutors unit (PNAT), which has taken charge of the investigation, said the suspect first attacked the municipal police officers, shouting “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest). Witnesses confirmed to AFP that the suspect had several times shouted the words that are used by Muslims as an exclamation of their faith.
In a post on Facebook, Mulhouse mayor Michèle Lutz said, “And the horror has just swept over our town. A man attacked passers-by at the covered canal market with a white weapon, several municipal police officers who intervened to neutralize him were also injured. The toll rises at this time to one person dead and several injured. Terrorist trail seems to be privileged at the moment. Of course it needs to be confirmed judicially. On behalf of the City of Mulhouse, I extend our brotherly feelings to the victims and their loved ones. I follow the operations on site with the Deputy Mayor and the Prosecutor of the Republic.”
According to local prosecutor Nicolas Heitz, the attack was carried out by a 37-year-old Algerian man, who is on a terror prevention watchlist. The list, called FSPRT, compiles data from various authorities on individuals to prevent terrorist radicalisation. It was launched in 2015 following deadly attacks on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo’s offices and a Jewish supermarket.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said that the man arrived in France without papers in 2014, and was arrested and convicted of glorifying terrorism in the wake of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. Police experts had ‘detected a schizophrenic profile’ in the suspect, he added. After several months in prison for that conviction, the man was confined to house arrest as authorities sought to expel him to Algeria, AP reported.
