An apparent terror attack at the train station in Marseille, France, today has left two female victims dead; the assailant was killed by anti-terror police.
Coincidentally, this is the same train station where four American college students were attacked just two weeks ago with acid.
Marseille Acid Attack Victims Ask for Prayers for Their ATTACKER https://t.co/iBiZa7Lk2M #Faith via @pjmedia_com
— Debra Heine (@NiceDeb) September 19, 2017
According to French newspaper La Provence, the attacker was shouting “Allah Akhbar” before he was shot and “neutralized” by soldiers who are part of France’s Operation Sentinelle, which was created to protect against such attacks.
#MarseilleGareSaint-Charles @PoliceNat13 . situation figée , auteur neutralisé et abattu.Trafic SNCF interrompu.
— Police nationale 13 (@PoliceNat13) October 1, 2017
#BREAKING Anti-terror prosecutors open probe into Marseille knife attack
— AFP news agency (@AFP) October 1, 2017
Media reports indicate that one of the dead female victims had her throat cut and the other one was stabbed to death.
Reuters reports:
Two women were stabbed to death and their assailant shot dead by soldiers in the southern port city of Marseille on Sunday in what police sources described as a “likely terrorist act”.
Three police sources said the suspect had shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) as he carried out his attack at Marseille train station. No further details were immediately available.
Police cordoned off the area.
France has been in a state of emergency following a spate of attacks by Islamist militants over the last two years, including attacks in Paris in November 2015 which killed 130 people. Other countries, including Britain, Germany and Belgium, have also suffered attacks using knives, guns, explosives and vehicles.
A witness told Reuters she saw a man take out a knife from his sleeve and then stab a young girl and then a second woman, shouting what could have been “Allahu Akbar”.
A 46-minute audio of ISIS caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi released on Thursday called for ISIS supporters to intensify attacks against the West and even target media centers.
Oh Soldiers of the Caliphate, fan the flames of war on your enemies, take it to them and besiege them in every corner, and stand fast and courageous.
Beware of retreat, or the feeling of defeat, beware of negotiations or surrender. Do not lay down your arms.
Oh soldiers of Islam in every location, increase blow after blow, and make the media centers of the infidels, from where they wage their intellectual wars, among the targets.
Continue your Jihad and your blessed operations and do not let the crusaders rest in their homes and enjoy life and stability while your brethren are being shelled and killed.
ISIS supporters are already discussing today’s attack in Marseille.
1) #ISIS users praising knife attack at a #Marseille train station, posting posters, incitements, Rumiyah articles; No official claim, tho pic.twitter.com/PB7T8n3qRq
— Rita Katz (@Rita_Katz) October 1, 2017
As I reported here at PJ Media, there were two separate “Allah akhbar” attacks in France in just one day two weeks ago.
There have been nearly a dozen terror attacks already this year in France, and the French interior minister said recently that they had thwarted another dozen terror attacks in 2017 and another 17 terror attacks in 2016.
Minister: 12 #Terror attacks foiled in #France this year https://t.co/nJfC3xvVUv pic.twitter.com/w51N6rwLxO
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) September 12, 2017
Out of all Western countries since 2014, France has been targeted for terror attacks more than any other country — just barely edging out the U.S.
And France accounts for half of all terror attacks and plots in Europe during that same time period.
France is the Most-Targeted Nation for Terror Plots in Europe. #Paris https://t.co/1BG7I3rRgO pic.twitter.com/ylCf0Mm6z2
— Nick Short 🇺🇸 (@PoliticalShort) August 9, 2017
Apart from the acid attack on the American college students two weeks ago, a prior terror attack in Marseille in January 2016 saw a Jewish teacher targeted by a Turkish Kurd with a machete. The teacher was only spared greater injury by using his Torah to defend himself.
The suspect in that earlier case said he was acting in support of ISIS.
Some of France’s most iconic locations in Paris have been the scene of terror attacks already this year, including the Louvre Museum, the Eiffel Tower, the Notre Dame Cathedral, and the Champs-Elysées shopping district.
The scope of the terror threat in France is near unimaginable, with hundreds of former ISIS fighters already known to have returned from Syria and Iraq and nearly 19,000 subjects on their “fiche-S” terror watch list.
France has seen 271 jihadi militants return: minister https://t.co/HPudKcVGLq
— Reuters Iran (@ReutersIran) August 6, 2017
#France has now upped the # of potential jihadists on its terror watch list to 18,500 from 16,000 6 months ago. Mind boggling Figure.
— Olivier Guitta (@OlivierGuitta) August 6, 2017
Given the calls by ISIS to increase attacks, the number of actual and thwarted terror attacks, and the extent of the potential terror threat, it’s highly unlikely that France will see the end of the current wave of terror stop anytime soon.
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