PARIS —
A French soldier patrolling at the Louvre museum in Paris shot and seriously injured a machete-wielding man on Friday who yelled “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest”) as he attacked security forces, police said.
Hundreds of tourists were confined to secure areas of the world-famous art gallery in central Paris after the attacker was shot five times around 10 a.m. in a public area inside the complex.
Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve called the attack “terrorist in nature.”
One soldier was “lightly injured” and has been taken to hospital, while the knifeman is in a serious condition but is still alive, security forces said.
Two backpacks carried by the assailant were checked by bomb disposal specialists at the scene and were found not to contain explosives.
The incident sparked fresh jitters in a country still reeling from a string of terror attacks over the last two years and under a state of emergency since November 2015.
Thousands of troops have been deployed to guard the capital, with groups of soldiers with automatic rifles a regular sight inside the Louvre and around its sculpture-filled gardens.
“It’s so sad and shocking… we can’t let them win, it’s horrible,” British tourist Gillian Simms, who was visiting Paris with her daughters, told AFP.
