Paris knife attack: what we know so far

Afghani national taken into custody following stabbings of seven people including two British tourists

France, Paris, knife attack
Police at the scene of the stabbing on Sunday night
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Seven people were injured, four seriously, in seemingly random attacks by a knife-wielding man outside a Paris cinema on Sunday.

French authorities confirmed that they had arrested a suspect - believed to be an Afghan national - following the incident, in which two British tourists were hurt.

Deutsche Welle reports that the attacker “was carrying an iron bar and a knife when he began stabbing people” outside a cinema on the banks of the Bassin de la Villette, in the city’s 19th district, at around 11pm local time. Four of the victims are in a critical condition, the German newspaper adds.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The BBC reports that people playing a game of petanque - a French bowling game - near the cinema “threw balls at the attacker to try to stop him”.

“Around four or five balls hit him in the head, but they weren’t able to stop him,” according to eyewitness Youssef Najah.

Police said that the suspect was believed to have psychiatric and drug issues, The Daily Telegraph reports. A police investigation has been launched for attempted murder, according to a judicial source.

“At this stage, nothing leads us to believe these attacks are of a terrorist nature,” a police source told The Guardian.

A spokesperson for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: “We are urgently investigating this incident and are in close contact with the French authorities.”

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us