“It was Allah who ordered me to do it.” The man who stabbed three women in Paris has been arrested

“It was Allah who ordered me to do it.” This morning, at around 11.30 am, three women aged 19, 24 and 36 were stabbed by a man near the Porte de Clichy, north-west of Paris. The attack took place between the brasserie Les deux coupoles and the Porte de Clichy tram stop. “I saw a girl lying on the floor in the bar; she was covered in blood,” a witness told Le Figaro. Two of the victims are currently in a critical condition, whilst the third is in a serious condition. However, none of them are believed to be in a life-threatening condition. “They were treated by the emergency services and taken to hospital,” the Paris Prefecture reported. One of the victims of the attack is believed to be pregnant.

According to initial reports, it was an off-duty police officer who helped facilitate the arrest and prevented the incident from resulting in a more tragic outcome. After seeing the man stab passers-by, the officer immediately called for backup: shortly afterwards, the attacker was arrested with the help of a police patrol. “We have immense respect for our off-duty colleague who intervened with a cool head to neutralise the attacker and prevent an even more tragic outcome,” commented the Alliance Police union on X. In a video posted on social media, the attacker appears to be pinned to the ground by several people; he seems disoriented but has the strength to mutter: “It was Allah who ordered me to do it.” Another witness interviewed by Le Parisien stated that the man had “two knives beside him” when he was subdued.

According to a police source speaking to Le Monde, the man is said to have taken one of two knives from a bag and attacked a woman who was at the tram stop, stabbing her in the buttock. According to the same source interviewed by Le Monde, he then attacked another person, stabbing them in the abdomen, and subsequently a third person, stabbing them in the shoulder. According to a source close to the investigation who spoke to Le Figaro, the attacker fits the profile of a “mentally unstable” individual. The French Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, stated during a press briefing that he remained “very cautious regarding the motive behind this violent act” committed by a man “who was uttering incoherent phrases”. The individual has provided the authorities with his identity, which has yet to be verified. Meanwhile, the First District of the Paris Judicial Police has been tasked with investigating the case as “aggravated attempted murder” in order to understand what drove the man to commit this act. For the time being, the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office has not been called in.