PARIS - French police detained a man who
wounded seven people in a knife attack in central Paris late on
Sunday, police and judicial sources said on Monday, adding there
was no initial indication the incident was linked to terrorism.
The attacker, who one police source said was from
Afghanistan, stabbed tourists and passersby along the Bassin de
la Villette, a popular outdoor canal area in the northeast of
Paris where many people gather on warm evenings.
Among those stabbed were two British tourists, a judicial
source said. They and two others remain in hospital with severe
wounds, although they are not thought to be life-threatening.
Witnesses cited by French media said a group of men playing
boules threw heavy metal balls that are used in the popular
game at the attacker, with one hitting him on the head and
stalling him.
Thierry, a witness quoted on BFM TV, said a group of people
then assailed the attacker.
"Someone with a wooden stick smashed him across the knees
and he fell to the ground," he said. "Loads of people arrived,
some were saying 'kill him' but one guy who was pinning him down
said 'no, the last thing we must do is kill him.'"
Police and ambulance crews arrived on the scene shortly
afterwards, witnesses said, and the man was taken into custody.
While the motives for the attack remain unclear, a judicial
source said it did not appear to be akin to other attacks
carried out by Muslim militants in Paris in recent years.
"Police didn't find any initial indication the attack was
linked to terrorism," the source said. "But the anti-terrorism
prosecutor's office is following how the investigation proceeds
closely."
Paris has suffered a number of militant attacks since
November 2015, when a series of coordinated strikes by Islamist
gunmen and suicide bombers killed 129 people in the capital, an
assault planned by the Islamic State and its adherents.