Terrorist action at the Eiffel Tower: German tourist killed in knife attack in Paris

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A young German tourist was killed in a suspected terrorist knife attack in Paris. As French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin (41) and the public prosecutor announced on Sunday evening, the fatal victim was a German born in the Philippines in 1999. The perpetrator, who was known as an Islamist and allegedly shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is great) during the crime, also injured two other people, including a British tourist. He had been arrested.

The knife attack took place on Saturday evening near the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The perpetrator attacked a foreign tourist couple, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin told journalists during a visit to the crime scene. “A German tourist, born in the Philippines, died from the stabbings.” His companion was physically unharmed, but suffered a shock. According to the Public Prosecution Service, the fatal victim was born in 1999.

Darmanin explained that a taxi driver intervened. The attacker then ran across a bridge over the Seine to the other side of the river and attacked other people there. The attacker confessed to the crime in a video circulating on social media. He claimed to be a supporter of the Islamic State caliphate, praised jihadists and claimed to “avenge Muslims.”

Convicted perpetrator

According to the Minister of the Interior, a French man in his sixties was injured. The attacker also injured a foreign tourist with a hammer. The Minister of the Interior did not reveal the nationality of the injured tourist. According to English media reports, the man is British.

According to police sources, the perpetrator, a French citizen born in 1997, was knocked unconscious with a Taser and arrested. He is charged with murder and attempted murder. The National Counter-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office took over the investigation.

According to Interior Minister Darmanin, the attacker had a criminal record. The young man was sentenced to four years in prison in 2016 for planning another attack. After his crime on Saturday, he said he could not bear to see Muslims being killed in “Afghanistan and Palestine.” The war in Gaza is leading to increasing tensions in France with its large Muslim minority.

Self-declared radical Islamist

Police circles also said the alleged perpetrator, born in France, had psychological problems and was known as a radical Islamist.

An eyewitness who was at a nearby bar during the crime said he heard cries for help and saw people running away. A man “with a hammer in his hand” attacked another man, who then fell. After “five to ten minutes” the police arrived.

French President Emmanuel Macron (45) expressed his “condolences” to the relatives of the German victim on the online service Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne (62) said on X: “We will not give in to terrorism.” At the same time, she praised “the courage and professionalism of our security and rescue forces” in the operation against the attacker. Darmanin also highlighted the “courageous” action of the police on X.

Highest terror alert level

Two months ago, France was placed on the highest alert level due to the threat of assassination attempts. declared after a radicalized former student stabbed a 57-year-old teacher and injured three other employees at a school in Arras, northern France. The twenty-year-old perpetrator, from Ingushetia, Russia, had previously sworn allegiance to the jihadist militia Islamic State (IS).

In recent years there have been several acts similar to those on Saturday evening in Paris. In May 2018, a Russian-French attacker born in Chechnya killed a passerby with a kitchen knife and injured four other people before police killed him. IS has claimed responsibility for the crime.

In February 2017, an Egyptian attacked security forces at the Louvre with a machete while shouting “Allah Akbar.” He was sentenced to 30 years in prison in June 2021. (AFP/kes)

Source: Blick