A French soldier shot a man wielding a machete as he tried to force himself into a shopping mall at Paris’s Louvre museum in what appeared to be some sort of a terrorist attack, as a result, the Louvre museum in Paris has been cordoned off.
The attacker shouted Allahu Akbar and attacked another soldier before being shot near the museum’s shopping mall, the police also reported that they arrested a second person who acted suspiciously.
The man was alive but he was seriously wounded, Michel Cadot, who is the head of the Paris police told reporters at the scene, adding that the attacker had no explosives in the bag that he carried.
In a report issued by French Interior Ministry, the grave public security incident had occurred in the vicinity of the Louvre museum and as a result, the area has been sealed off. The attacker had been carrying bags when he attempted to enter the shopping mall. However, after he was denied entry, he stabbed one of the soldiers and he injured him lightly. As a result, soldiers shot the attacker five times, including once in the stomach. The assailant is in custody as the French PM said that the Louvre attack was terrorist in nature.
Cadot reported that the soldier fired five bullets as he described how the man hurried threateningly towards the soldiers, adding that it was an attack by a person who represented a direct threat and whose actions suggested that it was a terrorist context.
A French spokesperson said that the attacker cried out Allahu Akbar, adding that no explosives have been found so far. The police also said that the attacker’s remarks led them to believe that the assailant intended to carry out a terrorist attack. The public prosecutor reported that An anti-terrorism inquiry has been opened following the incident.
French Interior Ministry spokesman reported that the assailant’s nationality and identity remains unknown, adding that the 250 people that were locked inside the Louvre following the attack will be allowed out in small groups once they’ve been vetted.
There has been a series of militant Islamist attacks that have hit France over the past two years and as a result, more than 230 people have been killed, the militant Islamist group Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the same. With three months, away from a Presidential election in which security and fears of terrorism are among the key issues, the country is very careful on security matters.
