MALHOUSE: French police have made several arrests since a man went on a stabbing rampage, killing one and wounding several others in what President Emmanuel Macron called a “terrorist act,” anti-terror prosecutors said Sunday.
The knife-wielding suspect, identified by prosecutors as a 37-year-old Algerian-born man, was arrested at the site of Saturday’s attack in the eastern city of Mulhouse. He was on a terrorism watchlist and subject to deportation orders.
A further three people were in custody in connection with the case Sunday, the PNAT prosecutors unit said, without giving details.
Local prosecutor Nicolas Heitz said the suspect, who he did not name, was registered on France’s terrorist watchlist.
HIGHLIGHTS
• The knife-wielding suspect, identified by prosecutors as a 37-year-old Algerian-born man, was arrested at the site of Saturday’s attack in Mulhouse.
• He was on a terrorism watchlist and subject to deportation orders. A further three people were in custody in connection with the case Sunday, the PNAT prosecutors unit said.
Speaking at the police station late Saturday, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said the man had “a schizophrenic profile” and his act had “a psychiatric dimension.”
Retailleau said France had repeatedly attempted to expel him from the country, but Algeria refused to cooperate.
The rampage occurred near a busy market in Mulhouse, a city of around 110,000 people near the German border. At the time, demonstrators were rallying in support of Congo.
A 69-year-old Portuguese man was fatally wounded while parking attendants and police were also hurt.
Two officers were seriously wounded, with one sustaining an injury to a carotid artery, and the other to the upper body, prosecutor Heitz said, adding that the latter officer was able to leave hospital. Three other officers suffered minor injuries, prosecutors said.
The government was determined to continue doing “everything to eradicate terrorism on our soil,” he added. Speaking during a visit to France’s agriculture fair Saturday, Macron offered condolences to the family of the victim and said the “solidarity of the nation” was behind them.
PNAT said it was investigating the attack for murder and attempted murder “in connection with a terrorist enterprise.”
The terrorist watchlist, called FSPRT, compiles data from various authorities on individuals with the aim of preventing “terrorist” radicalization. Retailleau told French broadcaster TF1 that France had tried to expel him 10 times, with Algeria refusing each time to accept him.
“Once again, it is ... terrorism that has struck,” he said. And, once again, he added, problems of migration were “at the origin of this terrorist act.”
