Man decapitated near Paris, anti-terror probe under way

French anti-terror prosecutors said Friday they were investigating an assault in which a man was decapitated on the outskirts of Paris. (AFP/File Photo)

PARIS: French anti-terror prosecutors said Friday they were investigating an assault in which a man was decapitated on the outskirts of Paris and the attacker shot by police.
The attack happened at around 5 p.m. (1500 GMT) near a school in Conflans Saint-Honorine, a western suburb of the French capital.
Prosecutors said they were treating the incident as “a murder linked to a terrorist organisation.”
Police arrived at the scene after receiving a call about a suspicious individual loitering near the school, a police source said.
There they found the dead man and, 200 metres further, sighted the suspect armed with a knife-like weapon who threatened them.
They opened fire and injured him severely, the source said. Other reports suggested the attacker was shot dead by police.
The scene has been cordoned off and a bomb disposal unit dispatched because of the suspected presence of an explosives vest, the source said.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, on a visit to Morocco, is returning to Paris immediately after talking with Prime Minister Jean Castex and President Emmanuel Macron, his office said.