German tourist killed and British man among those injured in attack near the Eiffel Tower in Paris
A German man has been killed and a British man among two people injured, after a knife and hammer attack near the Eiffel Tower in central Paris on Saturday
A man who allegedly killed a German tourist and injured a British national in a suspected terror attack in Paris had pledged allegiance to the so-called Islamic State, authorities said.
The man, named by AP as Armand Rajabpour-Miyandoab, is accused of stabbing the German-Filipino man to death before using a hammer to injure a British man and a French national on Saturday near the Eiffel Tower.
France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard said he had opened an investigation into the attack on Sunday.
He said Rajabpour-Miyandoab, a French national, had posted a video on X before the attack pledging his allegiance to IS alongside other recent posts in which he made references to the Israel-Hamas war.
Mr Ricard said Rajabpour-Miyandoab, born in 1997, converted to Islam at the age of 18 and in 2016 planned on joining IS in Syria before being imprisoned for four years on a charge of planning violence.
He received psychiatric treatment and was under surveillance for suspected extremism, the prosecutor confirmed.
Three other people from Rajabpour-Miyandoab’s friends and family have been detained by police for questioning, Mr Ricard said.
After killing the tourist, the attacker crossed the bridge to the city’s right bank and injured the British and French nationals, authorities said.
Mr Ricard said both of them were able to return home on Sunday.
The British Foreign Office said in a statement: “We are supporting a British man who was injured in Paris and are in contact with the local authorities.”
French President Emmanuel Macron described the event as a "terrorist attack" and sent his condolences to the families and loved ones of those affected.
"The national anti-terrorism prosecutor's office now seized will be responsible for shedding light on this matter so that justice can be done in the name of the French people," Mr Macron said.
In response to the attacks French prime minister Élisabeth Borne wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: "We will not give in to terrorism. Never."
The terror risk in France was raised to the highest possible level following a fatal attack in Arras, northern France, on October 13. A teacher was stabbed by a former student who had likely undergone Islamic radicalisation.
In 2020 another teacher was killed outside of Paris in what Mr Macron described as an "Islamist terrorist attack".
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