PARIS — A man who killed two women with a knife at Marseille’s Saint Charles railway station on Sunday was shot dead by soldiers, as the Islamic State terrorist group appeared to claim responsibility for the attack.
The person who carried out the attack was among Islamic State’s “soldiers,” the SITE Intelligence Group said, citing the terrorist group’s semi-official Amaq news agency.
French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb, who visited the crime scene in the southern port city, had said earlier: “This act could be of a terrorist nature, but we cannot confirm it at the moment.”
He said that eyewitnesses heard the attacker shouting out “Allahu akbar,” Arabic for “God is great.”
Collomb said video footage shows the man attacking and killing the first woman, then running away and subsequently turning around and attacking the second woman.
The attacker was shot dead by soldiers at 1:45 p.m. shortly after the attack. BFM TV reported that one woman was stabbed to death, while the second woman’s throat was slit.
The soldiers at the station were part of Operation Sentinelle, which involves widespread army foot patrols as a deterrent measure after a series of terrorist attacks in France since early 2015.
French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on Twitter that he was deeply outraged by the barbaric attack, but also praised the soldiers for acting efficiently and with cool heads.
Marseille Mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin said he was convinced the incident was a terrorist attack.
In a tweet, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said the country would remain vigilant.
National rail company SNCF said rail services were disrupted in the aftermath of the attack, but were eventually restored. Saint Charles is a busy rail hub, and is also the station from where high-speed trains leave for Paris.
There were few details on the attacker’s identity. Anti-terrorism authorities were investigating.
The attacker was apparently known to police, French news agency AFP reported, but not known to have any links to terrorism.
Since a series of Islamist terrorist attacks in France over the past 2 1/2 years left almost 240 dead, thousands of soldiers have been deployed to patrol streets, busy areas and public buildings.
