One person died and two others were injured after a man attacked tourists in central Paris near the Eiffel Tower, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Saturday. The 26-year-old man, a French national, attacked a tourist couple with a knife on the Quai de Grenelle, a few feet away from the Eiffel Tower, mortally wounding a German national. He was then chased by police and attacked two other people with a hammer before being arrested.
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The suspect had shouted out "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) and told police he was upset because "so many Muslims are dying in Afghanistan and in Palestine" and was also upset about the Gaza situation, Darmanin said.
The assailant was known for radical Islamism and psychiatric disorders, and had been sentenced to four years in prison in 2016 for planning another attack and was on the French security services' watch list. The interior minister added he was also known for having psychiatric disorders.
The anti-terrorism prosecutor's office said it was in charge of the investigation. Saturday night's incident in central Paris occurred less than eight months before the French capital hosts the Olympic Games.