A machete-wielding attacker who was shot and immobilized by a French soldier at Paris' world-renowned Louvre museum on Friday was a suspected terrorist, France's prime minister said.
The alleged attacker approached a group of security agents near the glass pyramid at the center of the Louvre's courtyard square and managed to lightly injure one soldier before being shot five times in the stomach.
A message published by the French Presidency on Twitter said Francois Hollande, who was in Malta for an informal EU summit, "saluted the courage and determination shown by the military this morning at the Carrousel du Louvre."
Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the attack on the soldier was apparently "terrorist in nature."
"The incident occurred around 10:00 am when a man, carrying two bags on his back, went down to the Carousel square, heading to the Louvre," a police spokesman told journalists at a press conference. "The attacker rushed at the police and the soldiers shouting Allahu Akbar (in Arabic: Allah is the greatest)," he said.
One soldier sustained light wounds to his head.
There was no evidence of explosives found in the bags the alleged assailant was carrying.
The suspect survived the gunfire that immobilized him but sustained serious injuries and was in a Paris hospital undergoing surgery, broadcaster BFMTV reported.
The perimeter of the Louvre was cordoned off and visitors, numbering some 1,000 at the time of the incident, were kept inside the Louvre until the area was fully secured.
They are due to be evacuated in small groups, said interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henri Brandet.
An epa photographer on the scene captured images showing security agents standing guard at the glass pyramid_ the Carousel.
The central square at the Louvre, which is normally flowing with tourists, was almost completely empty as the police undertook security operations.
A second person had also been detained at the scene and investigators were working to establish whether there was a connection with the attempted assault, said Brandet.
The prosecutor's office for counter-terror in Paris said it had opened an investigation into the attack in which it would pursue charges of aggravated attempted murder linked to terrorism.
France's Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux said in a statement that he saluted the security agents' quick response and wished a speedy recovery to the injured soldier.
A large-scale security operation was underway in the vicinity of the Louvre, the Orsay Museum and metro lines in the vicinity of both cultural attractions.
France has been on high terror alert following the fatal attacks Paris in Nov. 2015 and in Nice in July 2016.
Source: EFE
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