Shortly before the start of the Olympic Games in Paris, a soldier assigned to security was injured in a knife attack. His life is not in danger. The attacker was arrested.
Almost 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-terror unit, was stabbed but his life was not in danger, France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced in the evening. The attacker was arrested. As the broadcaster BFMTV reported, the soldier was injured in the shoulder.
As BFMTV and the newspaper “Le Parisien” reported, citing the police, the attacker is said to be a mentally ill Frenchman who had already been targeted by the judiciary in 2018 in connection with a murder. The man, who comes from Congo, reportedly claimed to have attacked the soldier 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 as a Christian to the officers.
The highest terror alert level is currently in effect in France. Soldiers from Operation Sentinelle are deployed in Paris and elsewhere, armed with assault rifles, in groups to ward off 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. Officials and armed forces are also deployed outside the city center.
The Gare de l’Est station is one of the major long-distance train stations in Paris. Trains from Germany, such as Stuttgart and Frankfurt, arrive here. Knife attacks in Paris train stations are not uncommon. Such incidents occur again and again, but they usually have no terrorist background. 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 more involved than ever in safeguarding the security of the French,” the minister wrote on X.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
