France: Knife attack leaves 1 dead, several wounded

French prosecutors have said the Algerian suspect in the stabbing attack in the city of Mulhouse was already on a terror prevention watchlist. France's interior minister later visited the city.

A knife attack in the eastern city of Mulhouse, France, left one passerby dead and three police officers wounded. The suspect, a 37-year-old Algerian man, was arrested and is currently in custody.

President Emmanuel Macron described the incident as an "Islamist terror act." Macron said the "solidarity of the nation" was with the attack victim and his family. 

The attack in Mulhouse took place near a covered canal-side market. A 69-year-old Portuguese man was killed, officials said. He was a civilian passerby who tried to intervene.

France's anti-terror prosecutors unit (PNAT) said local police officers were the suspect's first target. He allegedly shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) during the incident.

PNAT said it is now investigating the attack as both murder and attempted murder "in connection with a terrorist enterprise."

Suspect was on terror watchlist

Prosecutors said that the suspect was on a terrorism prevention watchlist.

The watchlist, called FSPRT, compiles data from various authorities on individuals with the aim of preventing radicalization. It was launched following the deadly 2015 attacks on the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and a Jewish supermarket.

"Horror has seized our city," Mulhouse Mayor Michele Lutz said on Facebook. The incident was being investigated as a terror attack, she said, but "this must obviously still be confirmed by the judiciary."

French interior minister castigates Algeria over the attack

French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau traveled to Mulhouse later on Saturday and visited a fire station.  

Retailleau told the TF1 television channel that the Algerian suspect was supposed to return to Algeria, but the Algerian government wouldn't take him back. Retailleau claimed that France tried to send back the suspect 10 times, but the Algerian government wouldn't budge on the issue. 

The French interior minister blamed migration and "Islamist terrorism" for the attack. The suspect, he said, came to France in 2014 and was later convicted of glorifying terrorism. 

He added that police experts had detected a schizophrenic profile in the suspect.

Retailleau suggested that France take a harder line on the issuing of visas to Algerians. 

The Algerian government appears to not have released a statement yet in response to Retailleau's remarks 

France once had colonial rule over Algeria, with the North African country gaining its independence in 1962 after a war with the French colonial empire.   

Edited by: Darko Janjevic