Three police sources stated the suspect had shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is biggest) as he carried out his assault at Marseille practice station. No additional particulars had been instantly obtainable.
Police cordoned off the world.
France has been in a state of emergency following a spate of assaults by Islamist militants during the last two years, together with assaults in Paris in November 2015 which killed 130 folks. Different international locations, together with Britain, Germany and Belgium, have additionally suffered assaults utilizing knives, weapons, explosives and automobiles.
A witness informed Reuters she noticed a person take out a knife from his sleeve after which stab a younger woman after which a second lady, shouting what might have been “Allahu Akbar”.
She added that she noticed troopers from France’s Sentinelle power who had been patrolling within the space arrive on the general public sq. on the Gare Saint-Charles station.
“After the assault carried out subsequent to Marseille Saint-Charles, I’m instantly going to the positioning of the assault,” French Inside Minister Gerard Collomb stated on Twitter.
French media reported that one of many girls had her throat slit, whereas the second lady was stabbed within the abdomen. Reuters couldn’t affirm that info.
“We’ve got typically prevented these type of assaults in Marseille,” regional president Renaud Muselier, who was talking from the positioning of the assault, informed BFM TV. “I believe the safety providers responded extraordinarily shortly. It’s tough to do extra as a result of whenever you see the space between the 2 our bodies and the attacker it’s solely 10 meters, in order that they intervened shortly.”
Safety forces have more and more been focused by militants who’ve carried out a number of knife assaults on them, most notably in June 2016, when a Frenchman who pledged allegiance to Islamic State stabbed a police commander to dying exterior his house and killed his accomplice.