France knife attack had no terror motive, prosecutor says

ANNECY, France – The knife attack on Thursday morning in Annecy that left six wounded, including four young children, didn’t have a terror motive, the prosecutor of the south-eastern French town said.

The authorities are pursuing assassination attempt charges, prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis said during a press conference.

The suspect was being held in police custody.

The man holds Syrian citizenship and has refugee status in Sweden, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said at the conference.

She added that the man had entered France legally and was carrying Swedish identity documents and a Swedish driving licence.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the man had also made an asylum request in France, which was rejected earlier in June.

Mr Darmanin also told TF1 news that the Syrian refugee arrested over the attack had “certain Christian religious insignia” upon him.

The man had obtained asylum in Sweden 10 years ago, and made asylum requests in Switzerland and Italy as well, added Mr Darmanin.

Ms Borne and Mr Darmanin had both travelled to Annecy, a town in the French Alps, shortly after the attack.

A video of Thursday’s attack was taken by a bystander and verified by Reuters.

The clip showed the assailant jump a low wall into a children’s playground and repeatedly lunge at a child in a stroller, pushing aside a woman who tries to fend him off. 

Two of the wounded children and one adult were in hospital in a life-threatening condition, while the other victims were less seriously hurt.

The four children were just toddlers, aged between 22 months and three years, prosecutor Bonnet-Mathis told reporters.

One of them was a British national, another was Dutch, the prosecutor said.

As the assailant, who wore a blue-chequered headscarf and sunglasses, slashed at his victims, one bystander tried to stop him by throwing his backpack at him, the video showed.