Marseille attack suspect had criminal record

PARIS - 1 October 2017: The man suspected of carrying out Sunday's knife attack in Marseille was known to authorities for common law crimes, said a French police source.

Earlier on Sunday, French soldiers shot dead the man after he had stabbed two women to death at Marseille's main railway station. Police sources said the man had shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) and added that the attack was a "likely terrorist act."

French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his outrage at the Marseille attack on his Twitter account, and praised the reaction of the security services, including the Operation Sentinelle soldiers set up to deal with such threats.

"I hail the Operation Sentinelle soldiers and the police forces who reacted with extreme calmness and efficiency," Macron wrote on Twitter.