Hammer attack on police at Notre-Dame
Three Aussie cops wounded in shootout after standoff with man holding escort hostage
FRENCH police shot and wounded a man outside the Notre-Dame cathedral yesterday after he tried to attack them with a hammer, shouting: “This is for Syria”.
French media said the man, who claimed to be an Algerian student, was also in possession of two kitchen knives and other unsophisticated weapons.
One policeman, aged 22, was slightly injured in the neck.
French media cited a source close to the inquiry as saying the wounded assailant claimed to be a “soldier of the Caliphate” – a reference to Islamic State (IS).
The terrorist group claimed responsibility for the weekend attack in London, where extremists used a van and knives to crush and kill seven people, at least one of them French.
French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said: “We have gone from sophisticated terrorism to a terrorism where any tool can be used to carry out attacks.”
There was panic when two shots rang out at Notre-Dame, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Paris, as hundreds of tourists gathered at the front entrance at about 4.30pm.
Seconds earlier, the unnamed attacker had swung his hammer at a police officer guarding the site, landing a blow.
But before he could do any more damage, his colleague opened fire, hitting the assailant in the legs.
A journalist, whose office overlooks the square, tweeted that there were two blasts that sounded like shots. Elite officers armed with automatic weapons and bullet-proof vests swiftly sealed off the main square to check for accomplices, but soon announced that the situation was under control.
In the meantime, surrounding metro stations were shut and passers-by took refuge in shops and restaurants, while schools kept pupils indoors.
Several hundred people took refuge inside Notre-Dame itself. – The Telegraph
AFATAL shootout claimed by the Islamic State group was being treated as a terrorist attack by Australian police yesterday, as the prime minister condemned it as shocking and cowardly. A man of Somali background was killed in a gun battle with police when he opened fire following an hour-long standoff after taking a female escort hostage at a serviced apartment block in Melbourne on Monday evening.
It is alleged that 29-year-old Yacqub Khayre, linked to a 2009 terror plot targeting an Australian army barracks, had first murdered a Chinese-born Australian man working as a receptionist in the foyer.
Police said he made statements around al-Qaeda and called a television station making similar comments, such as “This is for IS, this is for al-Qaeda”.
Authorities labelled the attack as a terrorism incident but said that investigations were still ongoing into whether it was planned or random.
“We’re not seeing anything indicating that he’s got some message from overseas to do this at all but, again, early days,” Victoria Police chief commissioner Graham Ashton said.
“We’ve got material that’s seized. We’ll go through that and work it out.”
He said it was possible that Khayre might have been attempting to lure police by taking the escort – reportedly a sex worker – hostage.
“We still don’t know exactly whether that was the case,” Ashton said, but police believed he was acting alone and there was no ongoing threat.
The Amaq news agency – which is affiliated with IS – carried a statement claiming responsibility.
“The executor of the Melbourne attack in Australia is a soldier of the Islamic State and he carried out the attack in response to appeals to target citizens of coalition states,” it said.
Ashton said the IS always tended to jump up and claim responsibility every time something happened and that it was too early to determine if they were involved.
Authorities had responded to reports of an explosion at the building – which turned out to be a gunshot – in the affluent beach suburb of Brighton and arrived to find a body in the foyer.
“Subsequently he [Khayre] came out of the apartment with a shotgun and commenced to fire at police at the entry to the apartments,” Ashton said. “He exchanged gunfire with police and was fatally shot at the scene.”
The escort escaped unharmed but three policemen were wounded, although their injuries were not life-threatening.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the attack underlined the need to be constantly vigilant.
“This attack by a known criminal, a man who was only recently released on parole, is a shocking, cowardly crime,” he said.
“It is a terrorist attack and it underlines the need for us to be constantly vigilant, never to be deterred, always defiant, in the face of Islamist terrorism.” Australian officials have grown increasingly concerned over the threat of extremist attacks.
They said they have prevented 12 attacks on home soil since the threat level was raised in September 2014, including a foiled Christmas Day plot in Melbourne last year, with more than 60 people charged.
But four have gone ahead, including the murder of a Sydney police employee in 2015 by a boy of 15.
Khayre, whose parents were refugees from Somalia, was known to police and had a long criminal history. He was charged and acquitted over a foiled plot to attack the Holsworthy Army barracks in Sydney in 2009.
Three of his co-accused were found guilty of planning the terrorist assault as payback for Australia’s military action in the Middle East.
Khayre was released on parole late last year after serving time for intent to cause injury and arson, which Turnbull said was a concern given his background and something that would be reviewed.