French President Emanuel Macron said ‘it is without any doubt an act of Islamist terrorism’
One person was killed and several police officers injured in a knife attack in eastern France on Saturday, according to French authorities.
A 37-year-old Algerian man was arrested at the scene and is being held in custody, according to officials.
The man, who was on a terrorism watch list, shouted “Allahu Akbar” [Arabic for ‘God is the greatest’] as he launched the attack at a packed market in the city of Mulhouse on Saturday afternoon.
Authorities are investigating the incident as an act of terrorism, France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office confirmed.
A passer-by was killed while trying to intervene and at least two police officers were seriously injured, the prosecutor’s office said.
“It is without any doubt an act of Islamist terrorism,” French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters at the annual French farm show shortly after the attack.
He expressed “the solidarity of the nation” with the victims and their families.
The attack occurred close to a demonstration that was taking place against the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Nicolas Heitz, the Mulhouse prosecutor, said the so-far unidentified man who died had been stabbed in the throat, as had a municipal police officer who was in intensive care.
The attacker, who has not been identified by authorities, was on a file containing suspects said to have been “radicalised as terrorists,” Mr Heitz said.
He did not have settled status in France and was due to be deported, having been convicted of “showing sympathy for terrorism” in the past, he added.
“Horror has just gripped our city,” Michele Lutz, Mayor of Mulhouse said on Facebook. “A man attacked passers-by at the covered canal market with a knife, several municipal police officers who intervened to arrest him were also injured.”
It follows a spate of bomb, knife and attacks across France in recent years.