ISIL claims two deadly stabbings of women at train station

MARSEILLE, FRANCE — A man with a knife stabbed two women to death Sunday at the main train station in the southern French city of Marseille — an attack the Islamic State group claimed was the work of one its “soldiers.”

French soldiers shot the man to death after the attacks and authorities were working to determine if he had links to Islamic extremism.

Interior Minister Gerard Collomb, who went to Marseille to meet with local authorities and troops on the scene, said police have video that shows the man attacking a woman and running away, then coming back and attacking a second woman.

The video shows the man running toward soldiers who were rushing to Marseille’s Saint Charles train station. The soldiers fatally shot him and both women died of their injuries, Collomb said.

Some witnesses reported hearing the assailant shout, “Allahu akbar!” Arabic for “God is great,” Collomb said.

The Paris prosecutor’s office, which oversees all terror cases in France, said it had opened a counterterrorism investigation into the Marseille attack.

The ISIL-linked Aamaq news agency said in a statement Sunday night that the assailant was acting in response to ISIL calls to target countries in the U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIL extremists in Syria and Iraq.

The statement did not provide details or evidence of a direct link to the attacker. France has been part of the anti-ISIL coalition since 2014 and has been repeatedly targeted by ISIL attacks.

Police sources said one of the victims was stabbed and one had her throat slit. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak.