Wednesday, January 11, 2023

France: Another Stabbing Attack in Paris

Hat tip Francois DeSouche

Gare du Nord, Paris. AFP


It has happened yet again. The scenario is all too familiar. This morning, at the Gare du Nord train station in Paris, a man identified as a Libyan male in his 20s, went on a stabbing spree wounding six persons before being shot and critically wounded by police. (Certain news sources have described the suspect as Algerian, but Libyan seems more credible at this point.) Police report that the man had a record for petty crimes under several aliases and was under an expulsion order to Libya. Due to the unstable situation in Libya, the expulsion had not been carried out.

The below link, via Francois DeSouche (France), has several videos. The first one graphically shows how one of the victims was attacked (Viewer warning).

 https://www.fdesouche.com/2023/01/11/paris-un-homme-blesse-plusieurs-personnes-a-larme-blanche-a-la-gare-du-nord-avant-detre-neutralise/

The below two articles, via Francois Desouche, are translated by Fousesquawk.

https://www.bfmtv.com/paris/attaque-a-a-l-arme-blanche-a-la-gare-du-nord-l-assaillant-etait-sous-le-coup-d-une-oqtf_AD-202301110476.html

Knife attack at Gare du Nord (North Train Station). Assailant  was under OQTF expulsion order 

by Cecile Ollivier with Gauthier Hartmann January 11, 2023 at 16:54

Caption: Police at Gare du Nord train station Wednesday, January 11, 2023-Julien de Rosa/Agence France Presse

INFO BFMTV- The perpetrator of the attack is a Libyan, aged around 20, arrived in France three years ago.

The man who attacked and wounded 6 people with a knife at the Gare du Nord train station in Paris Wednesday morning was under an order of obligation to leave French territory (OQTF), issued in the summer of 2022, BFMTV has learned.

Known for acts of petty crime

Thanks to fingerprint analysis, police were able to identify this Libyan man, aged about 20. Having Arrived in France three years ago, he was known to police under multiple aliases for petty crimes, principally property damage.

The expulsion order he was subject to had not been executed. Expulsions to Libya are complicated due to the current instability of the country, but also due to the absence of an exchange channel for the identification of Libyan nationals.

Wednesday (today) around 6:45, the man (who was) "extremely threatening", attacked six people at the exterior entrance to the Gare du Nord, stated the Minister of Interior, Gerald Darmanin, who was at the scene Wednesday morning.

The individual was then neutralized by police in civilian clothes as well as frontier police, posted at the Gare du Nord. The assailant has been hospitalized after being shot three times by police. Gerald Darmanin explained Wednesday morning that he was "between life and death".

The preliminary toll is six people wounded by stabbing, "of which, one is more serious than the others," the Minister of Interior indicated.

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In addition, several witnesses reportedly heard the man yell, "Allahu akbar" during the attack, which police are still attempting to verify. At this point, police are not calling this a terrorist crime. I suspect that will change if and when the above witnesses' statements are verified.

Below is a partial translation of an article from Europe 1 (also via Francois Desouche).

https://www.europe1.fr/faits-divers/paris-des-blesses-a-larme-blanche-a-la-gare-du-nord-lagresseur-interpelle-4160263

According to some witnesses at the scene, the suspect reportedly shouted, "Allahu akhbar" during the attack. An element that the investigators of the Criminal Brigade are in the process of verifying, in cross-checking the interviews of witnesses and victims. At this stage, police who have been interviewed report having heard some remarks made in the Arabic language, without, however, being able to confirm what was precisely reported by certain witnesses.

A false identity?

According to information received by Europe 1, the suspect, who had no papers, stated in the morning that he was Algerian. He gave his name as Mohamed Amine M., a name not known to police, and was born, according to his statements, April 14, 1991. He would then be 31 years old. However, the attacker reportedly gave a false identity. Checking the files, his fingerprints matched five aliases with different dates of birth.








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