IS claims Marseille knife attack
MARSEILLE (AFP) — The Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the terror attack at a train station in the southern French city of Marseille which left two women dead on Sunday.
A man with a knife stabbed two women to death as he reportedly shouted “Allahu akbar!”
The IS claimed it was the work of one its “soldiers.”
The IS-linked Aamaq news agency said in a statement that the assailant was acting in response to IS calls to target countries in the US-led coalition fighting IS extremists in Syria and Iraq.
The statement did not provide details or evidence of a direct link to the attacker.
French soldiers shot the man to death after the attack.
Interior Minister Gerard Collomb, who went to Marseille to meet with local authorities and troops on the scene, said police have video that showed the man attacking a woman and running away, then coming back and attacking a second woman.
The video showed 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.
France has been part of the anti-IS coalition since 2014 and has been repeatedly targeted by IS attacks.
Police sources said that one of the victims was stabbed and one had her throat slit.
Collomb declined to provide any details about the suspect or identify the victims.