Terror in Marseille
Knifeman yells ‘Allahu Akbar’ as he murders women before troops kill him
TWO women were murdered in a ‘frenzied’ attack by a suspected terrorist with a butcher’s knife at a French station yesterday.
The unnamed man shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ – ‘God is great’ in Arabic – as he slit one woman’s throat and stabbed the other before being shot dead by soldiers in Marseille.
Islamic State said the attacker – who killed the passers-by aged 17 and 20 at around 2pm – was its ‘soldier’.
The suspect, who is thought to be in his twenties, is said to be known to police in the southeastern city, and appears to have had several identities.
A police source said: ‘The man first shouted threats, and then launched into the women. The two were killed by a knife, and then soldiers on anti-terrorism duties shot the man dead.
‘At least one large butcher’s knife was used by the attacker.’
Interior minister Gérard Collomb said police had a video showing the man knifing one woman, running away then coming back and murdering a second victim ten yards away outside Saint Charles station.
The assailant then ran toward soldiers who shot him as they rushed to the scene.
One witness said she saw the man take out a knife from his sleeve before the attack.
Hundreds of panicking rail passengers fled as patrolling soldiers then shot him. A witness called Hajar said: ‘I heard two shots, that was what triggered the panic.
‘People came out of a waiting room shouting, “Run! Don’t stay in the station. Everybody outside”. Then I saw a woman on the floor, they were giving her CPR.’
President Emmanuel Macron praised the reaction of the security services, tweeting: ‘Deeply outraged by this barbaric act, in pain with the families and relatives of the victims of Marseille.’
A police source said that digital analysis of the suspect’s fingerprints on a police database had come up with several aliases.
Within half an hour of the attack, the station and the surrounding neighbourhoods were in lockdown, with police warning people to stay away. Regional president Renaud Muselier said: ‘The security services responded extremely quickly. It’s difficult to do more because when you see the distance between the two bodies and the attacker it’s only ten metres.’ France has been in a state of emergency following a spate of attacks by Islamist militants.
In January 2015, 22 died in Paris after attacks on the magazine Charlie Hebdo and a shop, while in November that year 130 were killed in the city at the Bataclan concert hall and other locations.
The following June, two police officers were knifed to death in Paris, before 86 died when a truck hit crowds in Nice a month later. Days after, a priest in Normandy had his throat slit. This April, a policeman was shot in Paris.
Four US students were attacked this month with acid at the Saint Charles station. Authorities said the assailant was mentally ill.
A suspected terrorist stabbed a police officer and struck four pedestrians with a van during a police chase in Edmonton, Canada. After ramming the officer with his car, the 30-year-old man fled on foot, leaving an IS flag. He was later spotted in a rented van, which he used to run over passersby during a police chase. He was caught when he rolled the van.