Paris - French police on Sunday shot and
wounded a man who had rushed towards a group of policemen with a
knife shouting "Allahu akbar" (God is greatest) in the eastern
city of Metz, local officials said.
The incident at Metz came just two days after a man went on
a knife rampage in the suburb of Villejuif just outside Paris on
Jan. 3, killing one person and wounding two. The Villejuif
attacker was subsequently shot dead by police.
The Metz local public prosecutor's office said it was in
contact with the French anti-terrorism prosecutor's department
over the incident, while French Interior Minister Christophe
Castaner added he was monitoring the situation closely.
"I praise the quick thinking of the @PoliceNat57 (Moselle
police force), which intervened to apprehend the individual. A
probe is underway to determine the precise motivation and
circumstances behind the act," Castaner wrote on Twitter.
The Metz local prosecutor's office said the suspect suffered
gunshot wounds to the thigh. He was then taken away.
It added that the suspect, whom it did not name, was on an
official list of those monitored for links to militant groups.
Paris has suffered major attacks by Islamist militants in
recent years.
Co-ordinated bombings and shootings in November 2015 at the
Bataclan theatre and other sites around Paris killed 130 people
- the deadliest attacks in France since World War Two.