Paris: Soldier shoots knife attacker near Louvre Museum

By Hajer M'tiri

PARIS

French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has described Friday morning’s security incident at a shopping mall linked to Paris’s Louvre Museum as a “terrorist attack”.

A soldier shot and injured a man who tried to attack him with a machete after being prevented from entering the underground shopping mall carrying two backpacks.

Paris public prosecutor's office said its anti-terrorist section had launched an investigation.

A statement from the French president’s office described the attack as “savage aggression”. It said the state would “act relentlessly to defend the security of our compatriots and to fight terrorism".

One attacker armed with a machete attacked military and police officers guarding the Carrousel du Louvre mall, the head of Paris’s police, Michel Cadot, told reporters.

“The soldier fired five bullets, seriously wounding the attacker in the stomach,” Cadot said.

He said there were no explosives were found in the attacker’s two backpacks. The soldier was also slightly injured.

A nearby metro station -- Palais Royal - Louvre Museum -- was closed to the public, the city transport operator RATP said. The Louvre has also been closed.

Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said the identity of the attacker was still unknown and a second person had been arrested at the scene. However, the role this person may have played was still unclear.

France has been on high alert and security measures were stepped up in the wake of terror attacks over the last two years.