France: Authorities call 'knife attack' in Mulhouse a 'terror act'

Mulhouse town mayor Michèle Lutz said in a statement: "And the horror has just swept over our town. A man attacked passers-by at the covered canal market with a white weapon, several municipal police officers who intervened to neutralize him were also injured."

"The toll rises at this time to one person dead and several injured.
Terrorist trail seems to be privileged at the moment. Of course it needs to be confirmed judicially," Michèle Lutz said.

Suspect Arrested

The suspect was arrested and taken to police custody.

The suspect was listed under the FSPRT, a database launched in 2015 after the Charlie Hebdo and Jewish supermarket attacks to monitor individuals at risk of "terrorist" radicalisation.

The attacker had targeted several municipal police officers, shouting “Allahu Akbar,” as well as a passerby, the prosecutor’s office was quoted as saying by CNN.

According to reports, the attacker was identified as an Algerian national.

French President Condoles

French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed condolences to the victim's family.

Macron also described the attack as 'no doubt, an Islamic terrorist act, given the terrorist’s words, CNN reported.

French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau wrote on X: "Once again, it is Islamist terrorism that has struck! And it is the migratory disorders that are at the origin of this act."

Meanwhile, France’s national anti-terror prosecutors unit (PNAT)has taken charge of the probe into the incident.