PARIS– A French soldier was stabbed outside a major train station in Paris on Monday and the attacker was arrested, authorities said, as the city is under maximum security alert 11 days before the event’s opening ceremony. 2024 Olympics.
The soldier was hospitalized with a non-life-threatening injury to his shoulder blade, and the motive for the attack is under investigation, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.
An investigation was opened into attempted murder and the identity of the suspect was being confirmed, the prosecutor’s office said. Authorities did not suspect terrorism as a motive at this stage, according to the National Counterterrorism Prosecutor’s Office.
The soldier was among thousands of soldiers serving in France’s Internal Security Sentinelle force, created to protect key French sites after a series of deadly Islamic extremist attacks in 2015. Sentinelle force soldiers were target in the past.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin posted on X that the soldier was patrolling the Gare de l’Est train station in eastern Paris and that the attacker had been detained.
Paris is deploying around 30,000 cops every day for the Olympics, which run from July 26 to August 11, with a peak attendance of 45,000 the opening ceremony on the River Seine.
Around 18,000 military personnel are also helping to ensure security, including thousands of people housed in a huge special camp erected on the outskirts of Paris.
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