France, Germany Shocked By Knife Attacks Killing One, Injuring Several
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
PARIS/BERLIN/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – France and Germany are reeling from knife attacks linked to Islamic extremism and antisemitism in which at least one person was killed and six injured.
In the latest attack in the French city of Mulhouse, near the German border, a man stabbed multiple people, killing one person and injuring five others, investigators said.
French President Emmanuel Macron has described the incident Saturday as “a terrorist attack” carried out by an attacker who reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” or “Allah is the Greatest.”
Saturday’s violence resulted in the death of a 69-year-old Portuguese man who tried to intervene, officials said.
Two parking attendants and three police officers were reportedly injured. One officer was wounded in the carotid artery, another in the chest, while three other police persons sustained lighter injuries, French media said.
Local media reported that the 37-year-old perpetrator, who was not immediately identified, has been arrested while police cordoned off the area.
France’s public prosecutor said Saturday that the suspect “was on an anti-terror watch list” and had previously been convicted of “promoting terrorism.”
ACT OF TERRORISM
French President Macron described the attack as an “act of terrorism of Islamist nature,” adding there is “no doubt” about this.
Macron also announced that Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who was traveling to Mulhouse, added, “My government is determined to eradicate terrorism from our territory.”
The French attack came shortly after news emerged that a man who stabbed a 30-year-old Spanish tourist near the Holocaust Memorial in neighboring Germany’s capital, Berlin, on Friday was a 19-year-old asylum seeker from Syria.
Earlier in the day, German police had already arrested an 18-year-old man at Berlin Airport who was planning an attack on the Israeli embassy in Berlin. He was attempting to leave the country after failing to carry out the attack. The German newspaper Tagesspiegel said the suspect is an 18-year-old of Chechen origin. Police believe the motive was Islamist, Tagesspiegel reported, but it remained unclear whether the incident was connected to the other attacks.
The tourist was “seriously injured” but has been stabilized in hospital, authorities said. Germany’s Public Prosecutor’s Office explained that the “perpetrator had an antisemitic motive.”
The German leading daily Bild reported that the suspect was “a 19-year-old man” residing in a refugee shelter in Leipzig. Police were searching the facility amid concerns that the attack was “politically motivated,” according to sources familiar with the situation.
German television cited sources as saying that the suspect intended to “kill Jews.”
It is not the first time Germany has witnessed a knife attack by an asylum seeker; similar incidents occurred last year in Aschaffenburg and Solingen. The latest violence came ahead of Sunday’s elections in Germany, where the anti-migration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party was expected to win many votes.
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