A German national has been killed and two others injured in an attack near the Eiffel Tower in Paris by a suspect shouting “Allahu akbar.” The apprehended suspect told police he was angry about the situation in Gaza. He had previously served time for planning an attack.…
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) December 3, 2023
La Belle France's Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said an attacker had targeted tourists around the Quai de Grenelle, which is close to the Eiffel Tower.
He added that a 26-year-old French national known to security services had been arrested.
The suspect approached a tourist couple and fatally stabbed a German national, he said.The man was then pursued by police and attacked two other people with a hammer before being stopped with a Taser and arrested. The injured were treated by emergency services.
Mr Darmanin said the alleged attacker had shouted "Allahu Akbar", Arabic for "God is greatest", and later told police he was upset because "so many Moslems are dying in Afghanistan and in Paleostine".
He said the suspect was sentenced to four years in prison in 2016 for planning a separate attack and was on the French security services watchlist.
The man was also known to have suffered psychiatric disorders, Mr Darmanin said.
| The Times of Israel adds: |
The attacker is known to follow radical Islam, a police source told AFP.
| Courtesy of Skidmark in comments, we have a name and background from the Daily Mail: |
Despite this, Armand Rajabpour-Miyandoab, 26, was released from prison in 2020, and left to live at home with his parents while undergoing 'psychiatric and neurological treatment'.
The son of two Iranian refugees who was born in France, he had converted to Islam in 2015 after being radicalised online by an ISIS supporter, according to prosecution documents.
Rajabpour-Miyandoab was well known for forging online links with other terrorists including Larossi Aballa, who went on to stab two police officers to death in Magnanville in June 2016.
Another Facebook friend was Adel Kermiche, one of the perpetrators of the stabbing to death of a Catholic priest in Saint-Étienne du Rouvray in the same year.
Many of those linked with such crimes were, like Rajabpour-Miyandoab, on an S-File, which means they are officially under surveillance.
Rajabpour-Miyandoab later claimed to have completed a 'deradicalization programme', claiming he had lost interest in terrorism. He was let out of prison early in 2020, and put on a treatment programme for 'psychiatric and neurological problems,' according to an investigating source. In court in 2018, he said: 'Islamism was ruining my life,' while claiming he had taken to drinking beer and eating pork - activities which are barred to practising Muslims.
But online activity showed that Rajabpour-Miyandoab was still researching how to make phosphorus bombs, and posted a video of himself disguised, and making political statements. He regularly bemoaned the number of Muslims who were being killed in global conflicts including Afghanistan and Israel-Hamas. At one point he accused France of 'being complicit' in 'war crimes' committed by Israeli forces against thousands of massacred Palestinian civilians. During his time in custody he had frequently complained about 'Muslims being killed in Afghanistan and Palestine'. He had also referenced the current Israel-Hamas conflict, claiming that 'France was complicit' with Israel in the massacre of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza.
He fatally stabbed the as-yet-unnamed German tourist, born in the Philippines in 1999, with a knife in the back and shoulder, which led to a cardiorespiratory arrest before he passed away.
The second victim of the attack was British, and was out walking with his wife when Armand R. attacked him from behind.
'The family were on the Avenue President Kennedy when they were set upon,' said an investigating source, who added: 'A hammer was used to hit the man over the head.'
The Englishman was rushed to hospital, where his condition was later described as 'stable'. A third victim was also badly hurt in a hammer attack, said the source.
Related:
Adel Kermiche: 2016-08-11 Second man arrested over French priest’s murder
Adel Kermiche: 2016-08-01 Normandy REFUSES to give Muslim burial to priest killers
Adel Kermiche: 2016-07-31 ISIS teen who killed priest passed background check for airport job
Adel Kermiche: 2016-08-11 Second man arrested over French priest’s murder
Adel Kermiche: 2016-08-01 Normandy REFUSES to give Muslim burial to priest killers
Adel Kermiche: 2016-07-31 ISIS teen who killed priest passed background check for airport job
Related:
Larossi Aballa: 2017-12-12 Man held over jihadist murders of French police couple after 'DNA found on their computer'
Larossi Aballa: 2016-09-10 Notre Dame terror arrest footage revealed: One member of all-female ISIS cell which planned to blow up French train station was engaged to jihadist who slit priest's throat AND to a cop-killing Islamist
Larossi Aballa: 2017-12-12 Man held over jihadist murders of French police couple after 'DNA found on their computer'
Larossi Aballa: 2016-09-10 Notre Dame terror arrest footage revealed: One member of all-female ISIS cell which planned to blow up French train station was engaged to jihadist who slit priest's throat AND to a cop-killing Islamist