A soldier was stabbed outside a big train station in France's Paris on Monday amid a high security alert 11 days before the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic games.
The French soldier was hospitalised with a shoulder blade injury, but was out of danger. The incident comes 11 days ahead of the opening ceremony of Paris Olympics 2024.
A soldier was stabbed outside a big train station in France's Paris on Monday amid a high security alert 11 days before the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic games.
The attacker was arrested, officials said.
The French soldier was hospitalised with a shoulder blade injury, but was out of danger, the prosecutor's office were cited in an Associated Press report. The Paris prosecutor's office said the motive for the attack was being probed.
Authorities, however, did not suspect terrorism as a motive at this stage, according to the national counterterrorism prosecutor's office.
An investigation was opened into attempted murder, and the suspect's identity was being confirmed, the prosecutor's office said.
The soldier injured in the attack was among thousands of troops serving in the Sentinelle force for France's domestic security, which was created to guard key sites in the country after a series of deadly Islamic extremist attacks in 2015. Soldiers in the Sentinelle force have been targeted in the past.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin posted on X that the soldier was patrolling at the Gare de l'Est train station in eastern Paris, and that the assailant was detained.
Paris is deploying around 30,000 police personnel each day for the Olympics, which is slated to take place from July 26 till August 11, with a footfall of 45,000 expected for the opening ceremony on the Seine river.
About 18,000 military members are also assisting to ensure security, including thousands housed in a huge, special camp put up on the edge of Paris.