France raises security level after school attack

The French prime minister has put the country on its highest state of counter-terrorism alert after an as­sailant fatally stabbed a teacher and seriously wounded two others.

Witnesses say the knifeman shouted “Alla­hu Akbar”, or “God is greatest”, during the attack at a school in Arras, northern France. He is now in custody.

The “attack emergency” level has been used in previous counter-terror cases.

The alert can trigger extra security deploy­ments and public warnings.

On Saturday, 7,000 soldiers were mobil­ised for increased security patrols and the Louvre Museum in Paris was closed for security reasons.

Speaking to French news agency, AFP, police said the Palace of Versailles had been evacuated on Saturday after a bomb threat.

The alert came via an anonymous message online, a source close to the matter told AFP, adding that the pal­ace, a major tourist attraction, would be closed at least for the rest of the day.

The attack at Gambetta high school in the northern city, at about 11:00 local time (09:00 GMT) on Friday, came amid rising tensions in France’s sizeable Muslim and Jewish commu­nities, due to the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Interior Minister, Gérald Darmanin, said there was “no doubt” a link between the Arras attack and the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The attacker, named as 20-year-old Rus­sian national, Mohamed Mogouchkov, is of Chechen origin and known to the security services for his involvement with Islamist extremism, according to police.

As a former pupil at the school, he alarmed teachers with his extremist language, reports say. —BBC

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