2 dead in Marseille knife attack: Police

MARSEILLE/MONTREAL: A man armed with a knife killed two people at the main train station in Marseille on Sunday before being shot by soldiers patrolling there, local officials said.

“Two victims have been stabbed to death,” regional police chief Olivier de Mazieres told AFP, referring to the attack which occurred at 1:45 pm (local time).

Local prosecutor Xavier Tarabeux said the knifeman had been shot by soldiers, while the Marseille police urged people in the city to avoid the area around Saint-Charles station.

The deaths came with France still on high alert following a string of terror attacks which began in January 2015 when jihadist gunmen stormed the offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, killing 12.

The government has since launched Operation Sentinelle, deploying about 7,000 troops across the country to guard high-risk areas such as transport hubs, tourist sites and religious buildings.

5 INJURED AS CANADA PROBES ‘TERRORISM’

Canadian police arrested a man on Sunday suspected of stabbing a policeman and injuring four pedestrians in a series of violent incidents being investigated as an “act of terrorism.”

The crime spree began on Saturday evening outside a football stadium in the city of Edmonton and ended hours later with a high speed chase in which the driver of a van plowed into pedestrians.

Based on the actions and the evidence at the scene, the incidents were being investigated as “acts of terrorism,” police said in a statement.