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| Le Louvre terror attack: Man shouting 'Allahu akbar' shot after trying to kill French soldier with machete | Le Louvre terror attack: Man shouting 'Allahu akbar' shot after trying to kill French soldier with machete |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A suspected terrorist has attempted to attack a French soldier with a machete near Paris' famed Le Louvre art gallery. | A suspected terrorist has attempted to attack a French soldier with a machete near Paris' famed Le Louvre art gallery. |
| Prosecutors said the "attempted assassination" was being treated as a terror attack, amid the country's continuing state of emergency. | Prosecutors said the "attempted assassination" was being treated as a terror attack, amid the country's continuing state of emergency. |
| Yves Lefebvre, a police union official, said the man launched his attack when four soldiers guarding the area told him he could not enter with his bags. | |
| “That's when he got the knife out and that's when he tried to stab the soldier,” he added. | |
| Michel Cadot, the head of Paris police, said the man was shouting "Allahu akbar" and injured the soldier's scalp before a second troop opened fire. | |
| “We are dealing with an attack from an individual who was clearly aggressive and represented a direct threat, and whose comments lead us to believe that he wished to carry out a terrorist incident,” Mr Cadot told reporters. | |
| “There was also a second individual who was behaving suspiciously, who has also been detained, but for now there does not appear to be a link between that individual and the attack." | “There was also a second individual who was behaving suspiciously, who has also been detained, but for now there does not appear to be a link between that individual and the attack." |
| The attacker was shot five times and hit in the stomach, Mr Cadot added. Police union officials said he was also carrying a second machete. | The attacker was shot five times and hit in the stomach, Mr Cadot added. Police union officials said he was also carrying a second machete. |
| He was seriously injured in the incident at around 10am local time (9am GMT) and is being given medical treatment. | He was seriously injured in the incident at around 10am local time (9am GMT) and is being given medical treatment. |
| Bomb squads were deployed to check the area for safety but found no explosives in two backpacks the attacker was carrying. | Bomb squads were deployed to check the area for safety but found no explosives in two backpacks the attacker was carrying. |
| The Paris public prosecutor's office said the incident was being investigated as an "attempted assassination connected with a terrorist enterprise and association with terrorist criminals". | The Paris public prosecutor's office said the incident was being investigated as an "attempted assassination connected with a terrorist enterprise and association with terrorist criminals". |
| A spokesperson for the French interior ministry said a "serious public security incident" was underway, saying security forces were at the scene. | A spokesperson for the French interior ministry said a "serious public security incident" was underway, saying security forces were at the scene. |
| The ministry urged people not to spread "false information" and to follow authorities' instructions. | The ministry urged people not to spread "false information" and to follow authorities' instructions. |
| An American tourist visiting Le Louvre described how sirens sounded before emergency escape doors lifted from the ground. | An American tourist visiting Le Louvre described how sirens sounded before emergency escape doors lifted from the ground. |
| “Four armed guards then sprinted around the grounds outside of the pyramid entrance looking for something,” he wrote on Twitter. | “Four armed guards then sprinted around the grounds outside of the pyramid entrance looking for something,” he wrote on Twitter. |
| Another man, Olivier Majewski, was leaving his scooter in the parking area beneath Le Louvre when he saw a crush of around 30 people running and screaming “there's been a terror attack”. | |
| The 53-year-old said he hid for about 15 minutes before making his way upstairs. He said people were clearly scared, adding: “They were panicked.” | |
| Hundreds of people were evacuated from Le Louvre art gallery, Carrousel du Loure shopping centre, nearby Palais Royal metro station and surrounding gardens. | |
| Around 250 people who had been inside the museum were being held in "safe areas" by police. | Around 250 people who had been inside the museum were being held in "safe areas" by police. |
| It came following a series of Isis-inspired terror attacks in France, with the group calling on its followers to attack "infidels" and members of the security services. | It came following a series of Isis-inspired terror attacks in France, with the group calling on its followers to attack "infidels" and members of the security services. |
| The group massacred 130 people in a series of shootings and bombings in November 2015, and its followers have killed shoppers at a Kosher supermarket, a police officer and his wife and a Catholic priest. |