France attack: What do we know about the Annecy knife attacker?

Published

2 years ago

June 9, 2023

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Four young children are in hospital with life-threatening injuries after a knife attack in France earlier today.

Two adults were also injured when a man armed with a knife went into a playground full of children and started stabbing people in the southeastern town of Annecy in the French Alps.

One of the young victims was British. The two wounded adults are thought to be elderly men.

The man, who authorities say is originally from Syria, was detained by police. They say it is not being treated as a terrorist incident.

What do we know about the Annecy attacker?

The attacker is a Syrian national who was granted refugee status in Sweden 10 years ago and had entered France legally, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne told a press conference after travelling to Annecy.

He has been named as Abdalmasih H by French media.

He was found with Swedish identity documents and a Swedish driving licence, according to a police spokesman.

Earlier this month he had a demand for asylum in France rejected, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.

He also made asylum requests in Switzerland and Italy.

He is 31 and “has one child who is the same age as the children he attacked,” Ms Borne said.

According to French broadcaster BFMTV, he is married to a Swedish woman, but the couple separated eight months ago and his wife has not heard from him for half of that time.

They were studying together to be nurses, BFMTV report.

Ms Borne confirmed he was not known to the French security services, and has no criminal or psychiatric history.

Mr Darmanin said he had certain “Christian religious insignia” on him during the incident.

Police have said he had “no apparent terrorist motive”.

Who was injured in the Annecy attack?

Four children and two adults were injured, police have said.

All four children – including a young British girl – are fighting for their lives.

Two of the children, earlier reported as a brother and sister but who BFMTV report are cousins, are in a life-threatening condition in hospital. They are aged two and three.

The other young victims were a three-year-old British girl, BFMTV report, and a 22-month-old German boy. They are also being treated for life-threatening injuries in hospital, according to an update from a French prosecutor on Thursday afternoon.

One of the victims is Dutch, the local prosecutor added.

UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said officials are travelling to Annecy to assist the British victim’s family.

The two adult victims were both elderly men, one aged 78 and the other 70, BFMTV said. One of them is in a critical condition.

What do we know about the attack itself?

It happened in Le Paquier park, which is between the town centre and the northwestern corner of Lake Annecy.

Sky News international correspondent John Sparks says it “would be very busy at this time of year with tourists and residents out on the streets”.

One witness, who gave his name as Ferdinand, told BFMTV: “He [the attacker] jumped [into the playground], started shouting and then went towards the strollers [prams], repeatedly hitting the little ones with a knife.”

Another witness who owns a restaurant nearby, George, said: “Mothers were crying, everybody was running.”

Yohan, who owns an ice cream parlour opposite the park, said: “It’s a place where babysitters and parents take young children to play. I often see around 15 toddlers there in the morning, and the atmosphere is fantastic.”

Another unnamed bystander told BFMTV he saw first aiders working on “little bodies, three or four years old, perhaps”.

This video appears to have been taken by a bystander after the attack.

You can hear what sounds like screaming people in the background.

Two members of the public with their rucksacks appear to try to stop the attacker or slow down his progress.

What have the president and politicians said?

Emmanuel Macron said it was an “absolutely cowardly attack in a park” and the “nation is in shock”.

In Paris, politicians interrupted a debate to hold a moment of silence for the victims, BFMTV reported.

The assembly president, Yael Braun-Pivet, said: “There are some very young children who are in critical condition and I invite you to respect a minute of silence for them, for their families, and so that, we hope, the consequences of this very grave attack do not lead to the nation grieving.”

Speaking at an OECD press conference in Paris on Thursday afternoon, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly described it as a “terrible act of violence”.

“Of course, our thoughts are with the victims and the families and we stand ready to support the French authorities in whichever way we can,” he said.

Confirming the injured British child, he added: “We’ve already deployed British consulate officials who are travelling to the area to make themselves available to support the family.”

Both opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Suella Braverman have also offered their condolences.

World

Mum of emaciated baby in Gaza says ‘I lost my husband… I don’t want to lose her’

Published

2 hours ago

May 23, 2025

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Mum of emaciated baby in Gaza says 'I lost my husband... I don't want to lose her'

In mid-May, the World Health Organisation assessed that there were “nearly half a million people in a catastrophic situation of hunger, acute malnutrition, starvation, illness and death”.

“This is one of the world’s worst hunger crises, unfolding in real time,” its report concluded.

Warning: This article contains images of an emaciated child which some readers may find distressing

Israel‘s decision this week to reverse the siege and allow “a basic level of aid” into Gaza should help ease the immediate crisis.

But the number of aid trucks getting in, so far fewer than 100 per day, is considered dramatically too few by aid organisations working in Gaza, and the United Nations accuses Israel of continuing to block vital items.

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“Strict quotas are being imposed on the goods we distribute, along with unnecessary delay procedures,” said UN secretary general Antonio Guterres in New York on Friday.

“Essentials, including fuel, shelter, cooking gas and water purification supplies, are prohibited. Nothing has reached the besieged north.”

Nineteen of Gaza’s hospitals remain operational, all of them are overwhelmed with the number of patients and a lack of supplies.

“Today, we receive between 300 to 500 cases daily, with approximately 10% requiring admission. This volume of inpatient cases far exceeds the capacity of Rantisi hospital, as the facility is not equipped to accommodate such large numbers,” Jall al Barawi, a doctor at the hospital, told us.

At least 94% of the hospitals have sustained some damage, some considerable, according to the UN.

Paramedic crews are close to running out of fuel to drive ambulances.

The lack of food, after an 11-week blockade, has left thousands malnourished and increasingly vulnerable to surviving injuries or recovering from other conditions.

Children are the worst affected.

Our team in Gaza filmed with baby Aya at the Rantisi hospital in northern Gaza. She is now three months old and dangerously thin.

Her skin stretches over her cheekbones and eye sockets on her gaunt, pale face. Her nappy is too big for her emaciated little body.

Lethal spiral

Her mother Sundush, who is only 19 herself, cannot get enough food to produce breastmilk. Baby formula is scarce.

Aya, like so many other young children, cannot get the vital nutrition she needs to grow and develop.

It’s a lethal spiral.

“My daughter was born at a normal weight, 3.5kg,” Sundush tells us.

“But as the war went on, her weight dropped significantly. I would breastfeed her, she’d get diarrhoea. I tried formula – same result. With the borders closed and no food coming in, I can’t eat enough to give her the nutrients she needs.”

“I brought her to the hospital for treatment, but the care she needs isn’t available.

“The doctor said her condition is very serious. I really don’t want to lose her, because I lost my husband and she’s all I have left of him. I don’t want to lose her.”

Some of the aid entering Gaza now is being looted. It is hard to know whether that is by Hamas or desperate civilians. Maybe a combination of the two.

The lack of aid creates an atmosphere of desperation, which eventually leads to a breakdown in security as everyone fights to secure food for themselves and their families.

Only by alleviating the desperation can the security situation improve, and the risk of famine abate.

World

Police launch ‘major operation’ after 12 people injured in knife attack at Hamburg train station

Published

2 hours ago

May 23, 2025

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Police launch 'major operation' after 12 people injured in knife attack at Hamburg train station

Twelve people are reported to have been injured after a knife attack at Hamburg’s central train station.

A “major operation” has been launched and a suspect was arrested, police said in a post on X.

The identity of the suspect has not been revealed.

Reports in Germany said the suspected attacker was a woman.

The fire service said six of the injured were in a life-threatening condition, three others were seriously hurt, and another three sustained minor injuries, news agency dpa reported.

Bild newspaper said the motive for the attack was so far unknown.

Hamburg is Germany’s second biggest city, with the train station being a hub for local, regional and long-distance trains.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

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World

Israeli embassy shooting suspect ‘fired repeatedly after victims hit the ground’

Published

16 hours ago

May 23, 2025

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Israeli embassy shooting suspect 'fired repeatedly after victims hit the ground'

The man suspected of shooting dead two Israeli embassy workers in Washington DC leaned over and fired at them repeatedly after they fell to the ground, the FBI has said.

Elias Rodriguez, 31, has been charged with murdering Sarah Milgrim and her boyfriend Yaron Lischinsky, after they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum on Wednesday night.

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Footage has showed Rodriguez, from Chicago, chanting “free, free Palestine” as he was arrested.

It later emerged Mr Lischinsky had bought a ring and planned to propose to Ms Milgrim.

Authorities are investigating the killings as both a hate crime against the Jewish community and terrorism.

‘I did it for Gaza’

It comes as the FBI has said in a charging document on Thursday that surveillance footage shows how Ms Milgrim and Mr Lischinsky died.

Rodriguez is allegedly seen passing the couple after they left the museum before shooting them in the back.

The FBI says the footage then shows him leaning over the couple and firing at them several more times after they fell to the ground.

The video then shows Ms Milgrim attempting to crawl away before “(Rodriguez) followed behind her and fired again”, the charging document says.

The suspected gunman is then accused of reloading his weapon and firing at Ms Milgrim as she sat up.

According to the charging document, Rodriguez then jogged to the museum and once inside asked to speak to a police officer before stating that he “did it” and that he was unarmed.

He is then said to have told police: “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza, I am unarmed.”

Suspect ‘expressed admiration’ for fatal protest

The court document also states that 21 expended 9mm bullet cases were found at the scene and the gun was slide-locked – meaning it was empty of ammunition.

An empty gun magazine was also recovered from the scene.

The FBI says it has obtained travel records which show Rodriguez flew from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport to the Reagan National in Washington DC on Tuesday with the gun in his checked baggage.

Rodriguez had bought the weapon in the state of Illinois on 6 March 2020, according to the charging document.

The FBI has said that while Rodriguez was in custody he “expressed admiration” for a US Air Force member who set himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington DC on 25 February 2024.

Aaron Bushnell died in the apparent act of protest against the war in Gaza.

Rodriguez also told police he bought a ticket to the museum around three hours before the event that was attended by Ms Milgrim and Mr Lischinsky.

During a brief court appearance at the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington DC today, Rodriguez was charged with two counts of first degree murder and with the murder of foreign officials.

He has also been charged with causing the death of a person through the use of a firearm and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.

Rodriguez was told he could face life in prison or the death penalty if he is found guilty.

He remained calm throughout the hearing, paying attention to the proceedings throughout and confirmed that he is asking the court to appoint an attorney on his behalf.

He will next appear at a federal court in Washington DC on 18 June.

Murdered couple ‘were perfect for each other’

Meanwhile, Ms Milgrim’s father, Robert, says he feared his daughter might be in danger when he saw news alerts of a fatal shooting in Washington DC.

Ms Milgrim’s mother Nancy opened a phone locator app and saw Ms Milgrim was at the Capital Jewish Museum.

“Shortly after that, the Israeli ambassador called us on my wife’s phone,” Mr Milgrim told Sky News’ partner network NBC News, fighting back tears.

He added that it was the ambassador who told them Mr Lischinksy had bought a ring and was planning to propose to Ms Milgrim.

“They were perfect for each other, he said.

Mr Milgrim continued: “They just brought us joy, and her memory, which is a blessing, will continue to bring us joy – but it’s not the same as her not being here.”