A German tourist was killed while with his wife, and two others were injured by attacker with a knife and hammer near the Eiffel Tower in Paris on Saturday, the 2nd of December, in what President Emmanuel Macron called a “terrorist attack”. The suspect, a 26-year-old French national who already was on police watchlist, was arrested and pledged allegiance to Islamic State in a pre-recorded video, counter-terrorism prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard said, reports Reuters.
“I express my condolences to the family and friends of the German citizen who died tonight in a terrorist attack in Paris,” the French president said on X, adding that the anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office would investigate the incident to ensure justice, reports Politico.
Two others, a French citizen aged around 60 and a tourist from the UK, were also wounded but their injuries were not life-threatening. The British Foreign Office has said it is working with French authorities to support the British man.
“Shocking news from Paris,”
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wrote on X, offering her condolences to the family and friends of the victim of the attack in Paris, saying that hatred and terror have no place in Europe, writes Politico
The attacker, who was arrested after the knife attack, had expressed distress about the situation in Gaza and Muslim victims in Afghanistan and Palestine, and had already served a four-year prison sentence for planning an earlier attack in 2016 and had a history of mental disorders, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said, according to Reuters.
In October, a Chechen attacker killed a teacher at a school in northern France with a knife and France has been on high alert since then.
The attack in central Paris raises concerns about the security of the upcoming Olympic Games
in Paris, less than eight months before they are due to take place. Paris police chief Laurent Nunez in an interview on Sunday highlighted the “permanent” threat of terrorism, saying that security measures for the opening ceremony were prepared in view of the “high level” terrorist threat, writes Reuters.
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