[ad_1]
The attack in Paris was an “act of Islamist terrorism”
| Reading time: 4 minutes
Several people injured after a knife attack in Paris
Several people were injured in a knife attack near the former offices of the satirical magazine “Charlie Hebdo”. The Paris counter-terrorism prosecutor has now taken over the investigation.
Two people were injured in a stabbing attack near the former “Charlie Hebdo” publishing office in Paris. The French Interior Minister speaks of an “act of Islamist terrorism”. Now seven people have been arrested.
SIrene, cordoned off streets, loud shouts from the police: in the French capital, Paris, after a long break, the fear of terror spreads again. In front of the building where the satirical magazine “Charlie Hebdo” once had its editorial headquarters, two journalists were injured in a stabbing attack on Friday. Police arrested two suspects.
Meanwhile, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin described the attack as an “act of Islamist terrorism.” There is little doubt that this is yet another “bloody attack on our country,” he said on French television Friday night. He also asked the police prefecture to verify why the threat on this street had been underestimated, even if the editorial office was not based there for several years.
The incident occurred around 12 noon on Rue Nicolas Appert. An employee of the production company Premières Lignes, who works among other things for the France 2 channel, was injured in the attack. It is said that he just took a smoke break.
First two, then five more arrests
Two suspects were arrested near the crime scene shortly thereafter. Now there is initial information about them: the French antiterrorist prosecution considers that an 18-year-old is the “main culprit”, who was arrested shortly after the crime, as the investigators announced Friday. According to initial findings, he was born in Pakistan. According to media reports, the police should know him for other crimes. He is accused of wounding two employees of a Parisian media agency with a knife.
According to the prosecutor, a second man in police custody is 33 years old. His possible relationship to the main culprit is still under investigation, he said.
The French news agency AFP also reported five other arrests, citing judicial circles. The men were arrested while searching an apartment in Pantin, near Paris. There are now seven suspects in police custody.
Victims who are not in danger of death
According to Prime Minister Jean Castex, the victims are not in danger of death. Meanwhile, the “Charlie Hebdo” newsroom has moved: in January 2015, eleven people were brutally murdered in the newsrooms.
The Paris-based production company, whose employees were injured in the attack, co-produced a documentary about the attacks on “Charlie Hebdo.” “Three Days Of Terror: The Charlie Hebdo Attacks” is the name of the documentary that was produced for the US network HBO, the British BBC and the French channel France 2. Witnesses, policemen and survivors speak in the film about the horror series of January 2015, in which a total of 17 people died over several days, according to the “Premières Lignes” website.
France has been rocked by Islamist attacks for years: more than 250 people died. Therefore, people are almost always aware of the threat of terrorism. But for the moment the fight against the corona virus is the main focus of the country. There are thousands of new infections every day and the situation is deteriorating markedly. Even if that has put the fear of terror in the background, about seven kilometers from the crime scene, something reminds of the danger almost every day.
The trial of the alleged assistants of the terror series in January 2015 has been taking place there since the beginning of the month in the Palace of Justice. You can only enter the Crystal Palace in high security conditions. When the trial began, Charlie Hebdo republished cartoons of Mohammed, and the publishers were again threatened. In an open letter, around 100 French media backed the satirical magazine and called on the people of the country to defend freedom of expression.
Prime Minister Castex came to the scene
Prime Minister Castex rushed to the scene of the crime in the 11th arrondissement of Paris on Friday afternoon. He spoke of a “symbolic place”. “I would like to express my solidarity with the families of the victims and all the colleagues of these two journalists,” he said. He reiterated his “firm determination” to fight terrorism by all means. The editorial team of “Charlie Hebdo” also responded: “Charlie’s entire team supports and stands in solidarity with his former neighbors and colleagues.”
Thousands of students had to wait hours in schools as a precautionary measure after Friday’s attack. Parents cannot pick up their children from daycare. Heavily armed security forces cordoned off the entire area in eastern Paris around the crime scene, and there were numerous emergency vehicles on the streets. “Merde, merde,” cursed an old woman who did not return home.
The authorities continue to rate the terrorist threat in the country as very high. Fighting terrorism has always been one of President Emmanuel Macron’s top priorities. In April, a man killed two people in Romans-sur-Isère, near Valence. In August, six French people were killed in a fatal attack in Niger: the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia assumed responsibility for the crime.
[ad_2]
