By Jaime Ortega.
The Paris prosecutor terrorism agency has launched an investigation after the stabbing of a soldier in the west of the capital, as reported by the Nanterre prosecutor, Robert Gelli. The alleged assailant fled after committing the crime.
The soldier, 23, was stabbed in the neck around 18.00 in the Plaza de la Defense, by a man who has absconded, French media reported.
The attack occurred in the transport hub of La Défense, the business district located in the west of Paris, and apparently the author slit the soldier’s neck with a knife or a cutter. The soldier was treated in the subway’s premises and was later transferred to the Percy military hospital.
The man rushed up behind the soldier. The victim was participating in a terrorism prevention plan in which units are deployed to patrol stations, airports, monuments, public and official buildings. France is currently in red level, which is likely a terrorist attack, a step below the maximum, scarlet.
The alleged perpetrator is a man of North African descent, between the ages of 25 and 30 years old, and 1.90 meters tall. He is also described to having a beard and was wearing a black blouse and hijab, as described by the television channel ‘BFM TV’.
Pierre-Andre Peyve, the police prefect of Hauts de Seine, explained in a statement to ‘ITélé’ the soldier lost a lot of blood because of the wound “but his life is not in danger.”
The police are looking for the fugitive in the area, and has video security cameras in the area, as the attack took place at the Metro station on neighborhood in which working weekdays holds thousands of people.
“We do not know the circumstances of the attack or the identity of the perpetrator, but we are evaluating all scenarios,” said French President François Hollande,to the media in the Ethiopian city of Addis Ababa, where he is on an official visit.
Hollande has refused to make a direct connection with the murder of a British soldier on Wednesday in London, although both crimes have some similarities.
“I do not know at this time if were able to establish that bond,” he warned. Finally, has appealed for caution: “We ask all of our soldiers, including Vigipirate, to raise their level of attention and vigilance.”
For its part, the French Minister of Interior, Manuel Valls, said the assailant “certainly wanted to kill the soldier,” but urged caution before linking with the murder of London. “There are certain elements to the sudden violence of the attack, which could allow to consider that there may be some comparison with what happened in London,” he said on the newsnight ‘France 2’.
The head of the Department of Defense was beyond ensuring that the perpetrator wanted to end the life of this young soldier “because it was aimed at the military” and that the Government of Hollande “will not cease in its relentless fight against terrorism”.
Jean-Yves Le Drian has come to visit this afternoon to soldier wounded by this “criminal act” and says he has found “calm and satisfied.”
Several fronts
The French metropolis for months has been in a state of terror alert after the Gallic military intervention in Mali, which began on January 11, where they recently have come to move 4,500 troops.
French interests in North Africa, especially in the Sahel region, are in the crosshairs of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and several Gallic nationals have been kidnapped in Africa in recent months.
On Thursday, an employee of the French company Areva was killed during the attacks in Niger and had an affect on the SOMAIR mine, where the multinational company operates uranium deposits that supply nuclear plants to france.
