A soldier has been stabbed outside a major railway station in Paris just 10 days before the Olympic Games’ opening ceremony in the French capital.
The suspect was arrested following the vicious attack at the Gare de l’Est station in northern Paris.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the soldier is not in a life-threatening condition.
Authorities are working to determine “the circumstances and the motivation”.
The victim was taken to hospital “conscious” after suffering a knife wound “between the shoulder blades”, a police source told AFP.
Officials say the soldier was serving in the Sentinelle force for France’s domestic security.
A police source said the suspect is a Frenchman born in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
He is believed to have “said he is Christian and shouted ‘God is great’ in French”, another source added.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Darmanin confirmed the suspect was aged 40 and well known to police.
The second police source said the suspect launched his attack, “because the military kills people in his country”.
A police security perimeter was set up over night in the wake of the stabbing.
The soldier was one among thousands deployed within Operation Sentinelle – which works to protect sites such as railway stations, places of worship, schools and theatres.
The suspect was arrested following the vicious attack at the Gare de l’Est station in northern Paris
Getty
The team was launched following a series of Islamic extremist attacks in 2015.
Members of the force have previously been targeted.
Paris is deploying around 30,000 police officers each day for the Olympics, which runs from July 26 to August 11.