French authorities detain four after deadly stabbing linked to Islamic extremism

Four people were in custody on Sunday after a deadly stabbing in eastern France that authorities linked to Islamic extremism, the national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said.

A Portuguese man was killed in the attack on Saturday in the city of Mulhouse, near the border with Germany.

Seven police officers were wounded, including a parking control agent admitted to hospital with serious injuries, the prosecutor’s office said.

Those detained include the suspected attacker, a 37-year-old Algerian man identified by prosecutors as Brahim A.

The interior minister described him as an Islamic extremist with a schizophrenic profile. Two of his family members and a person who lodged him were also detained, the prosecutor’s office said.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the government has “complete determination” to respond to the attack, which he blamed on ’’Islamist terrorism”.

France has been on high alert for extremist threats.

The attacker repeatedly said “Allahu akbar”,  “God is great” in Arabic, the prosecutor said. He was armed with a knife and a screwdriver.

The suspected attacker arrived in France without papers in 2014 and was arrested and convicted of glorifying terrorism in the wake of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, interior minister Bruno Retailleau said on Saturday.

Police experts had “detected a schizophrenic profile” in the suspect, he added.

After several months in prison for that conviction, the suspect was confined to house arrest as authorities sought to expel him to Algeria.

Mr Retailleau criticised Algeria for resisting the return of criminals France is seeking to deport.

The French government will convene a special meeting on Wednesday about immigration in the wake of the attack, foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Sunday.

They will notably study 19 countries “where we have the most difficulty in returning people without papers”, Mr Barrot said on Europe-1 radio.