Macron says deadly knife attack in eastern France an 'Islamist terror act'

One person died and two police officers were seriously injured Saturday in a knife attack in eastern France that President Emmanuel Macron said was an "Islamist terror act".

Prosecutors said that three more officers were lightly wounded in the attack in the city of Mulhouse, carried out by a 37-year-old Algerian-born suspect who is on a terror prevention watchlist, called FSPRT, prosecutor local prosecutor Nicolas Heitz told AFP.

The suspect was arrested at the site of Saturday’s attack in the eastern city of Mulhouse.

Speaking at the police station, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said the man had "a schizophrenic profile" and his act had "a psychiatric dimension".

Retailleau said France had repeatedly attempted to expel him from the country, but Algeria refused to cooperate.

France's national anti-terror prosecutors unit (PNAT), which has taken charge of the investigation, said the suspect first attacked the municipal police officers, shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest).

Witnesses confirmed to AFP that the suspect had several times shouted the words that are used by Muslims as an exclamation of their faith. 

A civilian passer-by who intervened was fatally injured, the PNAT said in a statement.

According to Mulhouse prosecutors, he was a 69-year-old Portuguese national.

Macron said there was "no doubt" that the incident was "a terrorist act", specifically "an Islamist terrorist act".

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The government was determined to continue doing "everything to eradicate terrorism on our soil", Macron added.

The FSPRT watchlist compiles data from various authorities on individuals with the aim of preventing "terrorist" radicalisation. It was launched in 2015 following deadly attacks on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo's offices and on a Jewish supermarket.

One of the seriously wounded police officers sustained an injury to the carotid artery, and the other to the thorax, Heitz said.

Police established a security parameter after the attack that happened shortly before 4:00 pm (1500 GMT) during a demonstration.

Military units were sent to the scene as backup and forensic scientists searched for evidence.

According to union sources the suspect, born in Algeria, has been under judicial supervision and house arrest, and under an expulsion order from France.

"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".

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The PNAT said it is investigating the attack for murder, and attempted murder "in connection with a terrorist enterprise".

Macron, who spoke during a visit to France's agriculture fair, said the "solidarity of the nation" was with the attack victim and Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said that "fanaticism has struck again, and we are in mourning". 

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)