News / France

France police gun down knife-wielding man in Paris

Thursday, 07 January 2016 2:18 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 07 January 2016 4:50 PM ]

French criminal police are seen in the Rue de la Goutte d'Or in the north of Paris on January 7, 2016. (AFP photo)

French police have shot and killed a knife-wielding attacker who tried to enter a police station in the capital, Paris, the country’s interior ministry says.

"On Thursday morning, a man attempted to attack a policeman at the reception of the police station before being hit by shots from the police," French Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said, adding that "bomb disposal experts are at the scene working to secure the site."

The incident coincided with the first anniversary of deadly attacks on the Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris.

Brandet said French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve had left for the scene to assess the security situation.

French security sources said the suspect had had a knife and had been wearing a fake explosives vest.

The attack came minutes after President Francois Hollande started delivering a speech in an another part of the French capital. Hollande was addressing New Year's greetings to France's police and gendarmes. He called for greater cooperation between the country’s forces to meet security challenges.

َA French prosecutor has said in a statement that the man was carrying the emblem of Daesh Takfiri terrorist group that is wreaking havoc in several countries, mainly Iraq and Syria.

"He was found to be in possession of a mobile phone and a piece of paper on which the flag of Daesh was printed, as well as an unequivocal claim handwritten in Arabic," he said.

The development came as Paris had called off an annual display of fireworks on the Champs-Élysées Boulevard as part of security measures.

French research and intervention brigade (BRI) policemen are seen after killing a knife-wielding man in the Rue de la Goutte d'Or in the north of Paris on January 7, 2016. (AFP photo)

In January last year, Charlie Hebdo in Paris came under attack, which claimed the lives of some 13 people. Several others were also killed in another assault on a market. The acts of violence were claimed by the al-Qaeda branch in Yemen.

The shootings at the magazine's offices were followed by a wave of terrorist attacks in Paris. On November 13, 2015, 130 people were killed and 350 others injured after assailants struck at least six different venues in and around Paris. The attacks were claimed by Daesh.

The attacks in Paris are believed to have been carried out by European nationals who had joined Daesh in Syria and Iraq.

France is considering proposed changes to its constitution, which could see French-born dual passport holders stripped of their nationality, if convicted of terrorism.

The European country has also been part of a US-led coalition purportedly targeting Daesh positions in Iraq and Syria.

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