France launches terror probe after knife attack

French police have launched a terrorism investigation after two people were killed and five wounded in a knife attack in south-east France.

The attacker entered a tobacconist shop in Romans-sur-Isère, near Grenoble, and stabbed the owners and a customer.

He then attacked more people at two other shops before being arrested.

Prosecutors said the suspect was a Sudanese refugee in his 30s who lived in the town. Two other people have also been arrested, police said.

At the time of his arrest on Saturday, the man was "found on his knees on the pavement praying in Arabic", prosecutors said.

David Olivier Reverdy, of the National Police Alliance union, said the man had asked police to kill him.

Counter-terrorism prosecutors said they had launched an investigation into "murder linked to a terrorist enterprise".

The suspect was not previously known to the police or intelligence services, news website France Bleu reported.

On a visit to the town, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said: "This morning, a man embarked on a terrorist journey."

Town mayor Marie-Helene Thoraval told AFP news agency that after leaving the tobacconist, the suspect went to a butcher's shop where he grabbed another knife before attacking people queuing outside a bakery.

The butcher's shop own... (Read more)

Tweets mentioned:

https://twitter.com/EmmanuelMacron/status/1246421739963396099?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Latest News