France Anti-terrorist soldier injured in knife attack in Paris

Just under two weeks before the start of the Olympic Games in Paris, a soldier deployed to protect against terrorism was injured in a knife attack at the Gare d'l'Est train station.

The soldier, who was part of a patrol of the Sentinelle anti-terrorist unit, was stabbed but his life is not in danger, France's Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced in the evening. The attacker was arrested. As the BFMTV channel reported, the soldier was injured in the shoulder.

As BFMTV and the newspaper "Le Parisien" reported with reference to the police, the attacker is said to be a mentally ill Frenchman who was already targeted by the judiciary in 2018 in connection with a murder. The man, who comes from the Congo, is said to have attacked the soldier in order to take revenge for the deployment of French soldiers in his country of origin. The attacker is said to have shouted "God is great" in French during the attack and later described himself to the officers as a Christian.

France is currently on the highest terror alert level. The soldiers of Operation Sentinelle are armed with assault rifles and deployed in groups in Paris and other places to defend against threats such as terrorism. In the run-up to the Olympic Games, which begin on July 26, the police and military have massively increased their presence in Paris. Officers and armed forces have also been deployed outside the city center.

The Gare de l'Est station is one of the largest long-distance train stations in Paris. Trains from Germany arrive here from Stuttgart and Frankfurt, among other places. Knife attacks in Parisian train stations are not uncommon. Such incidents occur time and again, but are not usually terrorist-related. Most recently, at the beginning of February, a mentally disturbed man injured three people with a knife in the Gare de Lyon.

Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu expressed his condolences to the soldier. "Support and recognition for our armed forces, who are doing more than ever to keep the French people safe," the minister wrote on X.

SDA