Terror Investigation Opened Against Egyptian Louvre Attacker
Officials said the museum was closed & the visitors already inside when the attack took place were being kept there
President Hollande Praises Soldiers
At a meeting of EU leaders in Malta, French President Francois Hollande praised the courage and determination of the soldiers. "This operation undoubtedly prevented an attack whose terrorist nature leaves little doubt," he said.
Attacker an Egyption National
According to the police, the attacker is an Egyptian national who came to France in the beginning on January.
Paintspray cans - but no explosives - were found in his back packs.
Molins said the attacker was not carrying an ID but a photo registered in Visabio (a European biometric database including digital photography and fingerprints of visa applicants) was the same of the machete-wielding man.
During a raid in the suspect's residence rented in Paris' eighth district, the police found $970 in cash, an iPad and several pre-paid cards.
Man Armed with Machete
The soldier who fired the bullets was from one of the patrolling groups that have become a common sight around the capital since a state of emergency was declared across France in November 2015.
Attacker's Identity Unknown
The identity and nationality of the individual suspected of attacking a soldier at Paris' Louvre site remains unknown for now, according to Pierre-Henry Brandet, the French interior ministry spokesman.
'Attacker Yelled Allahu Akbar'
An individual who attacked a soldier at Paris' Louvre site on Friday cried out "Allahu Akbar" and police believe he wanted to carry out a terrorist attack, Michel Cadot, the head of the French capital's police force, said on Friday.
"There was also a second individual who was behaving suspiciously, who has also been detained, but for now there does not appear to be a link between that individual and the attack," added Cadot.
Cadot said the soldier who had been attacked had suffered some light wounds, and that others soldiers had fired five shots at the attacker, wounding the man.
He added that no explosives had been found in the attacker's bag at the Louvre.
Terror-Attack Plan Foiled
Head of Paris Police has said that the Louvre attacker’s remarks led them to believe he wanted to carry out a terrorist attack.
Soldier Shoots Knife-Weilding Man Outside Louvre
A French soldier, on Friday, shot and wounded a man armed with a knife after he tried to enter the Louvre museum in central Paris carrying a suitcase, police sources said.
One source said the man had been trying to get into the museum's shopping mall and had attacked another soldier before being shot and seriously wounded.
Police said the area had been evacuated and the interior ministry said on Twitter that the incident was "serious".
Louvre officials said the museum was closed and that visitors already inside, when the attack took place, were being kept there.
A witness at the scene said police had cordoned off access to the museum.
The most recent deadly attack took place in the southern city of Nice when a man drove a truck into a crowd on the seafront killing 86.
Two potential attacks were thwarted in September including one by a group of women who parked a car containing gas canisters near Paris's Notre Dame Cathedral.
The country is less than three months away from a presidential election in which security and fears of terrorism are among the key issues.
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