One dead and police hurt in knife attack in France
Lucy Clarke-Billings
BBC News
Reporting fromLondon
Hugh Schofield
BBC News
Reporting fromParis
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One person has been killed and five police officers injured in a knife attack in the eastern French city of Mulhouse.
A 37-year-old Algerian man was arrested at the scene and the prosecutor has opened a terrorist inquiry because the suspect reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar”, or “God is great”.
The man injured two police officers seriously, one in the neck and one in the chest. A 69-year-old Portuguese man who tried to intervene was stabbed and killed.
The suspect was subject to a deportation order because he was on a terrorism watch list, according to the local prosecutor. President Emmanuel Macron said there was “no doubt it was an Islamist terrorist attack”.
After expressing his condolences to the family of the victim, Macron added: “I want to reiterate the determination of the government, and mine, to continue the work to eradicate terrorism on our soil.”
The attack took place at about 16:00 local time (15:00 GMT) on Saturday near a busy market in Mulhouse, which is close to the borders with Germany and Switzerland.
The police officers were on patrol at a demonstration taking place in support of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“I have lived in France for 41 years and I have never experienced something like this,” Cemalettin Canak, 55, told the Reuters news agency.
“It has shocked me a lot,” he added. “Now when I go to the market, I will be a little nervous.”
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Of the two officers taken to hospital, the one injured to the chest was later discharged, prosecutors told the AFP news agency, while three others suffered minor injuries.
“Horror has seized our city,” Mulhouse mayor Michele Lutz wrote on Facebook.
French Prime Minister François Bayrou posted on X that “fanaticism has struck again and we are in mourning”.
“My thoughts naturally go to the victims and their families, with the firm hope that the injured will recover,” he said.
Visiting the scene on Saturday evening, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau told broadcaster TF1 that the suspect had been found to have a “schizophrenic profile” following his arrest.
He also said France had attempted to expel the suspect 10 times, and each time Algeria had refused to accept him.
He called for the establishment of a new “balance of power” with Algeria, and told reporters “we must change the rules” on how detention centres operate.
There was no immediate public comment from Algeria in response.
Additional reporting by Tom Bennett and Rorey Bosotti
