A British tourist has been injured and a German-Filipino man killed after a man's crime spree in Paris which President Emmanuel Macron described as "a terrorist attack".
A 26-year-old French man who carried out the violence on Quai de Grenelle, near the Eiffel Tower, shortly before 9pm local time on Saturday, was arrested after he was Tasered by police.
The two people injured - a Frenchman aged around 60 and a British tourist - were treated by emergency services. Both are believed to be in stable condition.
The assailant has been arrested and anti-terrorism prosecutors have opened an investigation.
He allegedly attacked one victim with a knife and used a hammer to injure two others.
France's anti-terrorism prosecutor said on Sunday he has opened an investigation into the fatal stabbing of a 23-year-old German-Filipino tourist, allegedly by a man who had been under surveillance for suspected Islamic radicalisation.
Jean-Francois Ricard said in a news conference that suspect Armand Rajabpour-Miyandoab could face a preliminary charge of murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise. He said Rajabpour-Miyandoab is a French national who is being held in police custody.
Rajabpour-Miyandoab recorded a video before the attack in which he swore allegiance to the Islamic State group and expressed support for Islamic extremists operating in various areas, including in Africa, Iraq, Syria, Egypt's Sinai, Yemen, Iran and Pakistan, Mr Ricard said.
The video, in Arabic, was published on Rajabpour-Miyandoa's account on X, formerly Twitter, where his recent posts included references to the Israel-Hamas war, the prosecutor said.Mr Ricard said Rajabpour-Miyandoab was born in 1997 in Neuilly-Sur-Seine, outside Paris, in a family with no religious affiliation. He converted to Islam at the age of 18 and quickly adhered to Islamic extremist ideology, he said.
In 2016, he had planned to join the Islamic State group in Syria. The same year, he was convicted and imprisoned for four years, until 2020, on a charge of planning violence. He was under psychiatric treatment and was on a special list for feared radicals, the prosecutor confirmed.
Since the end earlier this year of a probation period during which he received mandatory psychiatric care, Rajabpour-Miyandoab was placed under the surveillance of intelligence services, Mr Ricard said.
His mother had in October expressed "concerns" over her son isolating himself, but no evidence was found that could have led to criminal proceedings, he added.
Three other people from Rajabpour-Miyandoab's entourage and family have been detained by police for questioning, Mr Ricard said.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told reporters on Sunday that the man yelled “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) as he launched his assault.
Mr Darmanin said the victim was with his wife when he was fatally stabbed.
He said the wife was rescued by a taxi driver who intervened and that the suspect fled across a nearby bridge spanning the River Seine.
The man then attacked two more people, hitting one in the eye with a hammer, the minister said.
The attacker was stopped by police who twice fired a taser at him in the stomach, the minister said, praising the officers for their quick response and reiterating that "there would doubtless have been other dead."
The UK Foreign Office said: "We are supporting a British man who was injured in Paris and are in contact with the local authorities."
"We will cede nothing in the face of terrorism. Never," Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on X, formerly Twitter, sending her condolences to the victims and their families.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on X that he was "shocked" by the attack.
French anti-terrorism prosecutors are leading an investigation into the incident.
European security officials have warned of a growing risk of attacks by Islamists amid the Israel-Hamas war, with the biggest threat likely from "lone wolf" assailants who are hard to track.
"I send all my condolences to the family and loved ones of the German national who died this evening during the terrorist attack in Paris and think with emotion of the people currently injured and in care," President Macron said on the social network platform X.
France has been on high alert since raising its security threshold in October, when a Chechen-origin man with a knife killed a teacher in a school in northern France.
