(CNN) Paris, on edge after weathering a year of jihadist violence, faced a fresh scare Thursday as police shot dead a knife-wielding man on the anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo attacks.
An image of the ISIS flag, printed on paper, was found on the man’s body, along with a handwritten note in Arabic from him claiming responsibility for the attack, the Paris prosecutor’s office said in a statement. The office’s anti-terror section is investigating.
The man, whose identity is not known, was shot as he attempted to enter a police station in the northern Paris neighborhood of Barbes, bearing a butcher’s knife and yelling “Allahu Akbar,” the statement said. He was carrying a fake explosive device, it said.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said at a press conference that investigations were underway to determine the identity of the attacker and his motivations.
“In a country where the threat level is extremely high, the police and gendarmerie are on the front lines,” he said. “I’d like to thank them for their very great courage … and their commitment to protect the French people.”
The attempted attack took place at 11:30 a.m., the Paris prosecutor’s office said — a year to the minute since the Charlie Hebdo killings, the first of a spate of deadly jihadist attacks that have roiled the French capital over the past 12 months.
From : CNN Updated 2131 GMT (0531 HKT) January 7, 2016
Readmore : http://edition.cnn.com/2016/01/07/europe/paris-gunfire-charlie-hebdo-anniversary/index.html
