A knife attack claimed by ISIS that left two people dead in a Paris suburb on Thursday was not a terrorism-related incident, a French official has told The National.
Two people were killed, and one seriously injured in the stabbing in the troubled suburb of Trappes. The attacker, who has not yet been identified, was shot and killed by police when he ignored their warnings.
An official from the Paris prosecutor's office, the office responsible for investigating acts of terror, told The National that since the incident was not terror related it was being dealt with locally by the Versailles police.
“It’s not an attack. Here in Paris we are not dealing with it, and that means that it is not terrorism,” the official said.
“[ISIS] can sell whatever they want,” she added, referring to ISIS’ claim of responsibility that it released soon after the attack on its self-styled news agency Amaq.
The French interior minister, Gerard Collomb, said the man had "serious psychiatric problems," and had been on a terror watchlist since 2016.
An interior ministry source told Reuters the two people killed were the mother and sister of the assailant. A third woman, a passer-by who was not a member of the family, was seriously injured.
ISIS claimed that "the attacker in south west of Paris suburb of Trappes belongs to ISIS," but French officials said the attack was absolutely not an act of terror. The motive for the attack remains unclear.
A police source told AFP the man had been on a terror watch list after expressing extremist views.
The group said the attack was answering a call for more attacks on the West made by its leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi yesterday on Telegram.
Trappes, 30 kilometres southwest of Paris, is known for its social problems and issues with gangs, in contrast to the generally wealthy area it is surrounded by.
The town has previously been associated with radicalisation and is thought to be a source of foreign fighters for ISIS.
More to follow
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