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Victims of Knife Attack Near Paris Were Assailant’s Relatives, Officials Say Victims of Knife Attack Near Paris Were Assailant’s Relatives, Officials Say
(about 4 hours later)
PARIS — A man who was on a terrorism watch list fatally stabbed his mother and sister, and seriously injured another person, in a Paris suburb on Thursday, before being shot to death by the police, the authorities said. PARIS — A man on a terrorism watch list fatally stabbed his mother and sister, and seriously wounded another person, in a Paris suburb on Thursday, before the police shot him to death, the authorities said.
The Amaq News Agency, which is linked to the Islamic State, said the group claimed responsibility for the knife attack in Trappes, in language indicating that the attacker was inspired by the group’s ideology, rather than a core member of it. As of Thursday night, officials said they believed that the killing was related to family issues, which Frédéric de Lanouvelle, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, described as “pretty tense.” Mr. de Lanouvelle, speaking on BFM television, did not identify the assailant but said he was 36.
But Interior Minister Gérard Collomb said the assailant “is more someone unstable rather than someone who would be following the instructions of terrorist organizations.” He described the attacker as having “important psychiatric problems.” The Amaq News Agency, which is linked to the Islamic State, said the group had claimed responsibility for the knife attack. The claim was made in language indicating that the attacker was inspired by the group’s ideology, rather than being a core member of it.
But Interior Minister Gérard Collomb said the assailant was “more someone unstable rather than someone who would be following the instructions of terrorist organizations.” He described the attacker as having “important psychiatric problems.”
The attack took place in a residential area of Trappes, a working-class and ethnically diverse suburb southwest of Paris.The attack took place in a residential area of Trappes, a working-class and ethnically diverse suburb southwest of Paris.
Mr. Collomb told reporters in Trappes that the victims were the mother and the sister of the assailant, and that the attacker had been on a terrorism watch list.
The attacker killed his sister and wounded another person, who was not a relative, on the street where his mother lived, and then entered his mother’s house and killed her there, the minister said.The attacker killed his sister and wounded another person, who was not a relative, on the street where his mother lived, and then entered his mother’s house and killed her there, the minister said.
Mr. Collomb praised the response of the police, who were alerted at 9:30 a.m., and called the attack a “tragedy.”Mr. Collomb praised the response of the police, who were alerted at 9:30 a.m., and called the attack a “tragedy.”
Trappes, a town southwest of Paris that has a reputation for insecurity and violence, has been plagued by unemployment — 20 percent, more than twice the national average. It has a large Muslim population, and it has produced the soccer player Nicolas Anelka, and the popular comedian Omar Sy. Trappes, which has a reputation for insecurity and violence, has been plagued by unemployment — 20 percent, more than twice the national average. It has a large Muslim population, and it has produced the soccer player Nicolas Anelka, and the popular comedian Omar Sy.
There have not been any large-scale attacks in France this year, but terrorism-related knife attacks have become more frequent. In May, a 20-year-old man stabbed five passers-by, one fatally, in a crowded Parisian neighborhood before he was killed by the police.There have not been any large-scale attacks in France this year, but terrorism-related knife attacks have become more frequent. In May, a 20-year-old man stabbed five passers-by, one fatally, in a crowded Parisian neighborhood before he was killed by the police.
In October, an assailant stabbed two women to death in front of the St.-Charles train station in Marseille. Last October, an assailant stabbed two women to death in front of the St.-Charles train station in Marseille.
A bulletin from the Amaq News Agency, released on the messaging app Telegram, described the attacker in Trappes as a “fighter of the Islamic State,” but added that he “carried out the attack in response to appeals to target citizens of Coalition countries.”A bulletin from the Amaq News Agency, released on the messaging app Telegram, described the attacker in Trappes as a “fighter of the Islamic State,” but added that he “carried out the attack in response to appeals to target citizens of Coalition countries.”
The phrasing of the bulletin is lifted from a famous speech by a former spokesman for the group, encouraging followers around the world to kill “infidels.” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State, repeated the message in a speech released on Wednesday, his first in almost a year. The phrasing of the bulletin is lifted from a famous speech by a former spokesman for the group, encouraging followers around the world to kill “infidels.” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State, repeated the message in an audio recording of a speech released on Wednesday, his first in almost a year.