French national born in Chechnya, links to Islamists: What we know about Paris attacker so far

A wounded man is seen on Rue Marsollier in Paris, France May 12, 2018 @ Dezouzart / Twitter / Reuters

The man who stabbed one person to death and injured several others in Paris was a French national who was born in Chechnya, local media report, adding that the assailant had been monitored for links to radical Islamists.

Police found no documentation on the attacker, but investigators identified him by his fingerprints, Europe1 radio station reported on Sunday.

A judicial source confirmed to AFP that the man was “French, born in Chechnya in 1997.” His mother and father have been taken into custody for questioning, the source added. Earlier, reports in BFMTV and Le Parisien suggested that the assailant was Russian.

The knife attacker was reportedly listed on Fiche S, an indicator used in France to flag individuals considered a threat to national security who should be kept under constant watch, sources close to the investigation told AFP.

He had no criminal record, however, judicial sources said.
According to Europe 1, the 20-year old was monitored for his connections in “radical Islamic circles.”BFMTV reports that he had specific, indirect links with “a person in Syria.”

Earlier, RTL reported that the man was not listed on Fiche S.

Shouting “Allahu akbar,” the attacker injured five people, two of them critically, on Saturday evening. One of the victims, a 29-year-old man, later succumbed to his injuries.

“At this stage, on the basis of testimonies mentioning the fact that the aggressor shouted ‘Allahu akbar’ when attacking passersby with a knife, given the modus operandi, we dispatched the anti-terrorist section of the prosecutor’s office,” Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said.

Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack, the group’s affiliated website Amaq said. However, investigators have not verified the organization’s claim.