An attacker with a knife injured children and others in a town in the Alps on Thursday before he was quickly arrested, France's interior minister said. The children, aged between 22 months and 3 years, suffered life-threatening wounds, along with two injured adults," said the French prosecutor leading the investigation into the knife attack. "While the motives of the 31-year-old Syrian suspect remain unknown, they do not appear to be terrorism-related," the prosecutor added. French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne confirmed, "The man has refugee status in Sweden.
Gerald Darmanin said the attack took place in a square in the town of Annecy. In a short tweet, he said police have detained the attacker.
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“Several people including children have been injured by an individual armed with a knife in a square in Annecy,” he tweeted.
Panic ensued in the picturesque town in French Alps as people were seen running, crying and seeking help. The incident happened at around 9:45 AM when the man entered a children’s playground with a knife and attacked a group of kids as young as three years old, as per security officials quoted in media reports.
A local lawmaker, Antoine Armand, tweeted that children were attacked on a playground. He called the attack “abominable”.
In Paris, lawmakers interrupted a debate to hold a moment of silence for the victims, BFMTV reported.
