2018 Paris knife attack

Image:Site of 12 May 2018 Paris Knife Attack, 23.26 local time.jpg

The attack occurred at around 8:47 p.m., in the second arrondissement of Paris.{{Cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-13/paris-knife-attack/9755990|title=Terrorism probe into Paris knife attack that left two dead, including attacker|date=May 13, 2018|work=ABC News|access-date=May 13, 2018|language=en-AU}} Police first tried twice to stop the attacker with a stun-gun before shooting the suspect fatally when the stun-gun failed to incapacitate him.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44096595|title=Two dead in Paris knife attack|date=12 May 2018|work=BBC News|access-date=12 May 2018|language=en-GB}} Footage from the scene shows people running northward from Rue Mehul into Rue Marsollier, and at least one individual on the corner of the streets potentially wounded.{{Cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/05/12/paris-knife-attack-several-injured-suspect-shot-dead-police/605034002/|title='Our city has been bruised': Islamic State claims Paris knife attack that left 1 dead, 4 injured|work=USA TODAY|first1=Christal |last1=Hayes |first2=Jabeen |last2=Bhatti|access-date=13 May 2018|date=12 May 2018|language=en}} An unnamed witness was interviewed by France's BFM network, who stated that a young woman at the entrance of a restaurant was knifed in the neck, before being rescued, and the attacker moved to another street.

The attack was put under investigation of a counter-terrorism unit of the Paris Police Prefecture.{{Cite news|title=French police say suspected Paris attacker of Chechnyan origin|url=http://www.france24.com/en/20180512-man-attacks-people-with-knife-paris-shot-police|work=France24|agency=AFP|date=12 May 2018}}{{Cite news|title=Paris Attack Leaves 1 Dead and 4 Wounded by Knife-Wielding Terrorist|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/12/world/europe/paris-knife-attack-stabbing-france.html|work=The New York Times|date=12 May 2018}} The pro-ISIL Amaq News Agency claimed the suspect as a "soldier of the Islamic State", responding to its call to attack coalition citizens.{{Cite web |url=https://ent.siteintelgroup.com/Statements/amaq-reports-paris-knife-attacker-an-is-soldier.html |title="'Amaq Reports Paris Knife Attacker an IS "Soldier"", by SITE Intelligence Group |access-date=May 14, 2018 |archive-date=May 15, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180515114656/https://ent.siteintelgroup.com/Statements/amaq-reports-paris-knife-attacker-an-is-soldier.html |url-status=dead }} Prosecutor Francois Molins stated that the attacker shouted "Allahu Akbar" during the attack.{{cite news|last1=Steve Almasy|last2=Eva Tapiero|title=Attacker yells 'Allahu Akbar,' stabs five in Paris before police take him down|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2018/05/12/europe/paris-stabbing-attack/index.html|access-date=15 May 2018|work=CNN|date=13 May 2018|quote=The person who stabbed five people in Paris on Saturday night, killing one, yelled the Arabic phrase "Allahu Akbar," meaning "God is great," during the attack, city prosecutor François Molins told reporters at the scene.}}

The suspect was named as Khamzat Azimov, a French citizen and nursing student,{{Cite news|title=French government says attack foiled, Egyptian man arrested|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/french-government-says-it-foiled-attack-2-brothers-held/2018/05/18/80391b7c-5a6a-11e8-9889-07bcc1327f4b_story.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180518123105/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/french-government-says-it-foiled-attack-2-brothers-held/2018/05/18/80391b7c-5a6a-11e8-9889-07bcc1327f4b_story.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 May 2018|work=The Washington Post|date=18 May 2018}} born on 1 November 1997, in Argun, Chechnya. He came with his parents to France in the early 2000s where the family was granted refugee status in 2004. Growing up in Strasbourg, in the Region of Alsace, in 2010, his mother became a French citizen, which allowed him to be naturalized also. The then-19-year-old suspect became a person of interest for the DGSI in 2016, when some of his acquaintances planned to travel to Syria. He had no previous criminal record;{{Cite news|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/police-justice/article/2018/05/13/qui-est-khamzat-azimov-l-auteur-de-l-attentat-au-couteau-qui-a-fait-un-mort-a-paris_5298293_1653578.html|title=Qui est Khamzat Azimov, l'auteur de l'attentat au couteau qui a fait un mort à Paris ?|date=2018-05-13|work=Le Monde|access-date=2018-05-13|language=fr}} however, NBC reported that the "suspect was on a police watch list for radicalism."{{cite news|last1=Angela Charlton|last2=Elaine Ganley|title=Dead Paris knife attacker's parents and friend questioned by French police to uncover motive for stabbings|url=https://nationalpost.com/news/world/newsalert-french-judicial-official-says-friend-of-dead-paris-knife-attacker-has-been-detained-for-questioning-in-strasbourg|access-date=15 May 2018|work=National Post|date=13 May 2018|quote=The suspect was on a police watch list for radicalism, a judicial official not authorized to speak publicly about the case told The Associated Press.}} A judicial source told French media that his parents were being held for questioning.[https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/paris-attacker-who-killed-one-was-flagged-as-security-risk-1.3493546 Paris attacker who killed one was flagged as security risk]{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44098615|title=Paris attack suspect 'of Chechen origin'|date=2018-05-13|work=BBC News|access-date=2018-05-13|language=en-GB}} In Chechnya, security forces deployed armored personnel carriers in Argun to round up relatives of Azimov for questioning.

A high-school friend of Azimov was arrested in Strasbourg and transferred to Paris.{{Cite news|title=From Child Refugee To Alleged IS 'Soldier' – A Closer Look At Khamzat Azimov|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/paris-knife-attack-chechen-khamzat-azimov-profile-child-refugee-is-soldier/29228384.html|work=RFE/RL|date=15 May 2018}} Shortly before the attack, he had sent his sister a text message of "a jihadist chant regularly used by the Islamic State" from one of his at least eight cellphones. The suspect, identified as Abdul Hakim A, also a Chechen-born French national who had appeared on terror watch lists, was charged with "associating with criminal terrorists with plans to attack people."{{Cite news|title=Paris knife attack: Friend of jihadist charged and two women arrested|url=https://www.thelocal.fr/20180518/friend-of-paris-knife-attacker-charged-two-women-held|work=The Local|agency=AFP|date=18 May 2018}} Two women were detained for questioning, one reportedly Hakim A's radicalised wife who in 2017 had attempted to leave for Syria.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo wrote on Twitter about the attack that "tonight, our city has been bruised" and that "all Parisians are by their side", referring to the families and friends of the victims. French President Emmanuel Macron categorized the attacker a "terrorist".{{cite news|last1=Paulina Dedaj|last2=Amy Lieu|title=Suspect in deadly Paris knife attack was native of Chechnya, official says|url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/suspect-in-deadly-paris-knife-attack-was-native-of-chechnya-official-says/|access-date=15 May 2018|work=Fox News|date=14 May 2018|quote=In a tweet sharing his condolences for the victims, French President Emmanuel Macron labeled the attacker a "terrorist."}}{{cite news|last1=ELAINE GANLEY|last2=ANGELA CHARLTON|title=Paris stabbings investigated as terror attack, claimed by IS|url=http://www.latimes.com/nation/sns-bc-eu--france-paris-knife-attack-20180512-story.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516014506/http://www.latimes.com/nation/sns-bc-eu--france-paris-knife-attack-20180512-story.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 May 2018|access-date=15 May 2018|work=Los Angeles Times|date=13 May 2018|quote=President Emmanuel Macron tweeted his praise for police who "neutralized the terrorist"}} French Interior Minister Gérard Collomb praised the cool and quick response of the French police who "neutralized" the assailant.{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/12/europe/paris-stabbing-attack/index.html|title=Attacker stabs five in Paris, killing one before police take him down|first1=Steve |last1=Almasy |first2=Eva |last2=Tapiero|work=CNN|access-date=13 May 2018|date=12 May 2018}}

President of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, blamed French authorities and his upbringing in France for the attack, declaring that "In this light, I see fit to declare that all responsibility for the fact that Azimov has embarked on the criminal path rests with the French authorities." This caused French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian to respond by blaming it on "extrajudicial crackdowns against Chechen civilians" by Kadyrov's security forces.

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{{Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant}}

{{Islamic terrorism in Europe}}

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Category:2018 in Paris

Category:2018 murders in France

Category:May 2018 crimes in Europe

Category:May 2018 in France

Category:Islamic terrorism in Paris

Category:Islamic terrorist incidents in 2018

Category:Stabbing attacks in 2018

Category:Terrorist incidents in France in 2018

Category:Terrorist incidents in France involving knife attacks

Category:2010s murders in Paris