Russian embassy in Paris requests info from France on knife attacker's nationality

13 May, 2018 11:28 / Updated 7 years ago

The Russian embassy in Paris has requested information on the nationality of the man who killed one and injured several others with a knife in the city. Reports claim that he was born in Chechnya but had French citizenship.

“We have requested information on the nationality of the attacker and we are currently waiting for a response from the French authorities,” Anna Shlychkova from the embassy’s press service told RT.

On Saturday evening, the attacker shouted “Allahu akbar” as he stabbed five people with a knife. One of the victims, a 29-year-old man, later died from his injuries. The perpetrator was killed by security services.

Since news of the attack hit the headlines, there have been conflicting reports about the nationality of the assailant. On Sunday, a judicial source told AFP that the man was “French, born in Chechnya in 1997.” However, earlier reports in BFMTV and Le Parisien suggested that the attacker was Russian. 

The 20-year-old perpetrator was reportedly on Fiche S, which is a watchlist of individuals considered to pose a threat to national security. The man was reportedly monitored for his connections in “radical Islamic circles.”
Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack, the group’s affiliated website Amaq said. The investigators have yet to verify the claim.

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