Two women in Marseille, France, are dead after being attacked by a man with a knife at a train station, The Washington Post reports.
Although soldiers fatally shot the man, BBC News says that Sunday’s incident is being treated as a terror act and that a counter-terrorism investigation has begun. An official confirmed that the attacker cried out the Arabic saying, “Allahu Akbar,” or “God is greatest.”
According to authorities, the man stabbed one woman to death, while the second woman died from a slit throat. Reuters lists the victims as being 17 and 20 years old. Security forces guarding the Saint Charles train station intervened, shooting the man and later evacuating the station. Approximately 200 police officers eventually appeared around Saint Charles, closing off the area’s roads for safety. Two police authorities told Reuters that the attacker was of “North African appearance” and used a butcher’s knife to harm the women. The police allegedly knew of him through his connection to common law crimes. The Saint Charles station is the same location where four female, American students were sprayed with acid last month.
Following France’s deadly terror attacks in November 2015, soldiers’ presence in busy, popular areas has increased as part of Operation Sentinelle, which currently entails about 7,000 French soldiers stationed at the country’s major tourist sites, train stations and airports. A state of emergency began in France after the Paris attacks and is due to expire this November once the country’s leaders vote on its anti-terrorism law this week. Given the high amount of French terror attacks in the past two years, the state of emergency has been extended six times. Some elements of the emergency state’s regulations are expected to be incorporated into the anti-terrorism law.
French President Emmanuel Macron responded to the attack on Twitter, writing in French, “[I am] deeply outraged by this barbaric act…I salute the military and police officers who responded with…efficiency.”
Motives for the attack are still unclear, but officials believe that the incident could have been far worse. “The presence of Sentinelle soldiers, their speed and efficiency ensured that the death count was not bigger,” said police union official Stephane Battaglia.