Stabbing attack near former offices of Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris
Paris: At least two people were wounded in a knife attack on Friday near the former offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris, police said Friday. One suspect has been arrested.
France’s counterterrorism prosecutor’s office says it has opened an investigation into the "attempted murder in relation with a terrorist enterprise," according to an official at the prosecutor’s office.
It is unclear what motivated the attack or whether it was linked to Charlie Hebdo, whose offices were hit by a deadly Islamic extremist attack in 2015.
Police cordoned off the area near the attack as they searched for the attacker.Credit:AP
A Paris police official said that while authorities initially thought two attackers were involved, they now believe it was only one person, who was detained near the Bastille plaza in eastern Paris, a city police official said.
The official said police are still searching the area while they question the arrested suspect.
Police initially announced that four people were wounded in the attack, but the official said there are in fact only two confirmed wounded. Police could not explain the discrepancies.
Prime Minister Jean Castex cut short a visit to a suburb north of Paris to head to the Interior Ministry to follow developments.
"A serious event has taken place in Paris," Mr Castex said.
"An armed attack was carried out in the 11th arrondissement of Paris in front of the old Charlie Hebdo office."
The trial of 13 men and one woman accused of supplying weapons and other support to the two brothers who stormed the magazine's headquarters in January 2015 began earlier this month.
The attack killed 12 people, including some of France's best-known cartoonists.
The magazine republished controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad on the eve of this month's trial.
A staff member of the satirical newspaper was recently forced to leave her home following death threats, prompting French journalists to sign an open letter supporting free speech.
"Today, in 2020, some of you are threatened with death on social networks when you expose singular opinions," the letter said.
"The violence of words has gradually turned into physical violence. Over the past five years, women and men in our country have been murdered by fanatics because of their origins or their opinions. Journalists and cartoonists have been executed to stop them writing and drawing freely forever."
Charlie Hebdo had long attracted the ire of Islamic extremists for its caricatures of religious figures, including the Prophet Muhammad. It has been publishing under extreme secrecy and security measures in the years since the attack.
with AP
Bevan Shields is the Europe correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.