An unknown man attacked children in a park in the French city of Annecy. According to different sources, between five to nine people were injured in the attack. Three of them are in critical condition. The assailant was apprehended. Later, it was revealed that the attacker is a 31-year-old refugee from Syria who recently obtained asylum status in Sweden.
In France, a Syrian refugee with a knife attacked children in a park. As a result of the attack, seven people were injured, most of whom were children under the age of three, who were on a supervised walk.
Various Telegram channels are posting videos of the incident. The footage shows the assailant freely running through the park with a knife and attacking random passersby. After attacking the children, he also wounded an elderly person and, while trying to escape, was injured in the leg and subsequently detained.
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed shock and referred to the incident as a “cowardly attack.” He stated that the children and one adult are in critical condition.
Different media outlets report varying numbers of casualties. According to information from AFP and Le Figaro, seven people were injured. However, Reuters agency mentions nine victims, including eight children. Other sources, such as the BFM television channel and Le Parisien newspaper, report five or six injured individuals.
In 2022, the attacker applied for asylum in the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons. On April 26, 2023, he was granted asylum rights in Sweden, but he had made several trips to France.
According to an eyewitness quoted by France Bleu, the attacker had been seen in the vicinity of the crime scene for two months before the incident.
“He was there every morning, from morning until night, and everyone noticed him a little because he was all alone” , — the eyewitness recounted.
The investigation into the attack will be conducted by prosecutors specializing in counterterrorism.
