A knife attack in eastern France on Saturday left one person dead and two police officers seriously injured in what President Emmanuel Macron described as an “Islamist terror act.”
According to prosecutor Nicolas Heitz, the attack occurred in the city of Mulhouse and was carried out by a 37-year-old suspect who was on a terror prevention watchlist. Three additional police officers sustained minor injuries. The suspect has been taken into custody.
France’s national anti-terror prosecutors unit (PNAT) has taken charge of the investigation. Officials reported that the suspect first attacked municipal police officers while shouting “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest), a phrase confirmed by witnesses at the scene.
A 69-year-old Portuguese passerby who attempted to intervene was fatally wounded, the PNAT said.
Macron asserted there was “no doubt” that the attack was an act of terrorism, specifically “an Islamist terrorist act.” He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to eradicating terrorism from French soil.
The suspect was listed on the FSPRT, a watchlist established in 2015 to track individuals at risk of radicalization following deadly attacks on the satirical magazine *Charlie Hebdo* and a Jewish supermarket.
Of the seriously injured officers, one sustained a carotid artery injury while the other suffered a wound to the thorax, Heitz said.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau was expected to visit the attack site later on Saturday.
Authorities secured the area, which was bustling at the time due to a demonstration in support of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Military personnel were deployed as reinforcements, and forensic teams worked quickly to gather evidence before rain could wash away critical traces.
Union sources reported that the suspect was born in Algeria and had been under judicial supervision and house arrest, with an outstanding expulsion order from France.
Mulhouse Mayor Michèle Lutz described the incident as a horrifying event for the city, confirming that it was being treated as a terrorist attack, though the final determination rests with judicial authorities.
PNAT has launched an investigation into the attack, citing murder and attempted murder “in connection with a terrorist enterprise.”
During a visit to France’s agriculture fair, Macron expressed solidarity with the victims and their families. Meanwhile, Prime Minister François Bayrou condemned the attack, stating that “fanaticism has struck again, and we are in mourning.”
