2 Americans put end to terror attack
Action by pair, possibly Marines, is called ‘heroic.’
Two American passengers whom French news reports described as Marines thwarted a terror attack Friday on a train from Amsterdam to Paris.
The two were apparently injured in the incident.
U.S. military spokesmen said they could not confirm that the passengers were Marines, but they did confirm that two Americans had confronted and scuffled with the attacker.
“Unarmed men took down an armed assailant. They saved lives today. It doesn’t matter who they were, that’s heroic action,” said Marine Capt. Richard Ulsh, spokesman for the Marines in Europe.
The White House issued a statement quoting President Barack Obama as saying that “while the investigation into the attack is in its early stages, it is clear that their heroic actions may have prevented a far worse tragedy.”According to the French newspaper Le Monde, the Marines, in civilian clothes, heard “the sound of a heavy weapon being loaded” while passing a bathroom. When a man carrying an AK-47 and a pistol emerged, they confronted and disabled him. During the scuffle, the suspect managed to fire three shots, according to reports.
Britain’s Guardian newspaper reported the two men who foiled the attack were both injured, and that one of the injuries was said to be “serious.”
Other news reports said that three people, including one American, had been injured. Among them was the French actor Jean-Hugues Anglade, who was reportedly hurt while breaking a window trying to raise the alarm about the attack.
The suspect was described as a 26-yearold Moroccan. French anti-terror police did not release his identity, but did note that they had a file on him, implying that he had been investigated before the attack.
The suspect is thought to have boarded the high-speed train when it stopped at Brussels, not far north of where the attack took place. Witnesses told French media that the attack apparently began near the back of the train, raising the possibility that the intent was to move forward through the train, which was carrying 554 passengers.