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French interior minister says the machete attack near the former Charlie Hebdo office was an act of jihadist terrorism
In an interview with broadcaster France 2, Mr Darmanin described the stabbing as "a new bloody attack against our country, against journalists". "It's the street where Charlie Hebdo used to be. This is the way the Islamist terrorists operate," the interior minister said. He said he had ordered security to be stepped up around synagogues this weekend for Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. The main suspect has not been named, but Mr Darmanin said he arrived in the country three years ago "as an isolated minor" of Pakistani nationality.
The firm has offices in the Rue Nicolas Appert, a side street off Boulevard Richard-Lenoir where the former Charlie Hebdo offices are located. A mural to those killed in the Charlie Hebdo attack is nearby. "I went to the window and saw a colleague, bloodied, being chased by a man with a machete," one employee, who asked not to be named, said. "They were both very badly wounded," Paul Moreira, the founder and co-head of Premieres Lignes, told AFP news agency. The minister added that the suspect was not known for being radicalised, but had a previous arrest for carrying a screwdriver. Police quickly sealed off the 11th arrondissement in eastern Paris and a blade - described as a machete or a meat cleaver - was recovered nearby. Nearby metro stations were closed and five schools in the area immediately went into lockdown. The schools were allowed to reopen some hours later. Police said they arrested the main suspect in the nearby Bastille area. Shortly afterwards a man said to be from Algeria was also detained.
Posted by: Fred 2020-09-26 |
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