Two British tourists and five other people were injured in Paris after they were attacked by a man armed with a knife and an iron bar. No signs of terrorism links found after the incident in the north-east of the city.
“At this stage, nothing leads us to believe these attacks are of a terrorist nature,” a police source said.
Police arrested an Afghan national aged 31, who they believe is suspected, after a group of people chased the man and reportedly brought him to the ground. The assailant failed to explain his actions. Police believe he had psychiatric and drug issues.
Witness Youssef Najah said “there were around 20 people chasing him. They started throwing petanque balls at him”. Mr. Najah referring to the sport popular in France also known as boules.”Around four or five balls hit him in the head, but they weren’t able to stop him” he added.
French media said one British tourist has a chest injury while another was stabbed in the head. Four others are in a critical condition, police reports.
There have been several knife attacks in France in recent months. Terrorism has been ruled out in most cases. France has been on high alert following a string of jihadist attacks in recent years.
>Jelena Zukova
