Notre Dame attacker claimed allegiance to Islamic State: report

June 07, 2017

The man who attacked a police officer outside the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris on June 6 had reportedly pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State.

According to French media reports, police investigating the incident found a video in which the 40-year-old man, Farid Ikken, pronounced himself a follower of the Islamic State.

The assailant, a native of Algeria, had worked in Sweden as a journalist and was registered as a graduate student at the University of Metz. Acquaintances said that they were not aware of any radical sympathies, and in fact did not think of him as a practicing Muslim.

Ikken was shot and wounded by police after he attacked, shouting: “This is for Syria!” One police officer suffered minor injuries in the attack.

 

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Further information:

• Notre-Dame de Paris : l'assaillant avait prêté allégeance à l'État islamique (AFP)
• Police shoot attacker at Notre Dame in Paris (CWN, 6/7)