ISIS claim responsibility for frenzied Marseille railway station attack as terrorist shouting 'Allahu Akbar stabs two female passengers, 17 and 20, to death before being gunned down cool-headed anti-terror police

  • Attacker stabbed two female passengers at the  Gare de Marseille-Saint-Charles 
  • Reports claim he was heard shouting 'Allahu Akbar' before stabbing passengers 
  • Both of assailant's victims were women, one of whom was left 'with a sliced neck'
  • Anti-terror police patrolling inside the station responded and shot attacker dead 
  • British nationals urged to take care after attack at the city's main railway station

By Lara Keay and Peter Allen In Paris for MailOnline

Published: | Updated:

ISIS have claimed responsibility for a terror attack which saw a man shouting 'Allahu Akbar' stab two women to death with a butcher's knife in Marseille.

The victims, aged 17 and 20, suffered horrific injuries during the 'frenzied' attack, with one slashed in the throat and the other stabbed in the chest and stomach.

Eyewitnesses told how a man 'dressed in black' launched himself at the two women, who screamed for their lives as others ran for safety.

The assailant was gunned down by soldiers who were on patrol inside Saint Charles train station at the time as part of France's ongoing state of emergency.

The suspect, thought to be aged 25 to 30, was known to authorities for common law crimes while analysis of his fingerprints came up with several aliases.

Anti-terror officials said they were investigating 'links to a terrorist organisation' and the 'attempted killing of a public official', the identity of which is currently unknown. 

Photographs from the scene showed a woman lying on the ground and armed police standing over the attacker. A white sheet was later placed over his body. 

Out of custody: The attacker (pictured lying dead  after he was gunned down outside Saint Charles station, Marseille), was an illegal immigrant named as Ahmed Hanachi who had been arrested last week

The body of the attacker is photographed by forensic personnel shortly after he was gunned down outside Saint Charles station

The attacker ¿ who was a North African of either Algerian or Tunisian origin ¿ was arrested in Lyon for shoplifting, but was released two days before the Marseille stabbings on Sunday 

Armed police stand over a man on the ground - it was not immediately clear whether that was the attacker or another man being arrested 

After the stabbings in Marseille, anti-terror prosecutors said they had opened an investigation into "killings linked to a terrorist organisation" and the 'attempted killing of a public official'

After the stabbings in Marseille, anti-terror prosecutors said they had opened an investigation into 'killings linked to a terrorist organisation' and the 'attempted killing of a public official'

The assailant was gunned down by soldiers who were on patrol inside Saint Charles train station at the time as part of France's ongoing state of emergency

The assailant was gunned down by soldiers who were on patrol inside Saint Charles train station at the time as part of France's ongoing state of emergency

The suspect, thought to be aged 25 to 30, was known to authorities for common law crimes while analysis of his fingerprints came up with several aliases

The suspect, thought to be aged 25 to 30, was known to authorities for common law crimes while analysis of his fingerprints came up with several aliases

A body lies under a white sheet outside Marseille's main train station after a man with a butcher's knife attacked two women at the station

A body lies under a white sheet outside Marseille's main train station after a man with a butcher's knife attacked two women at the station

In a tweet, President Emmanuel Macron said: 'Deeply outraged by this barbaric act, in pain with the families and relatives of the victims of Marseille.

'I hail the Operation Sentinelle soldiers and the police forces who reacted with extreme calmness and efficiency.' 

Marseille mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin said he believed the incident to be a 'terrorist attack', while interior minister Gérard Collomb said it 'could be' related to terror. 

British nationals in Marseille are being urged to take care after a knifeman killed two women at the city's main railway station. 

A police source added: ['The stabbings were] frenzied and took place in front of lots of witnesses. The man first shouted threats, and then launched into the two women.

'The two were killed by a knife, and then soldiers on anti-terrorism duties intervened. They shot the man dead.'

The assailant was shot dead by soldiers who were patrolling the station as part of France's state of emergency

The assailant was shot dead by soldiers who were patrolling the station as part of France's state of emergency

The man shouted ¿Allahu Akbar¿ as he murdered the 17-year-old student and 21-year-old nurse outside St-Charles station

The body of one of the women killed in the attack is covered (in gold) as forensics begin the investigation into what happened

Marseille mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin said he believed the incident to be a 'terrorist attack', while interior minister Gérard Collomb said it 'could be' related to terror

Marseille mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin said he believed the incident to be a 'terrorist attack', while interior minister Gérard Collomb said it 'could be' related to terror

Two women were stabbed to death and their assailant shot dead by soldiers in Marseille

Two women were stabbed to death and their assailant shot dead by soldiers in Marseille

French police search the body of the assailant shortly after he was gunned down outside the busy station

French police search the body of the assailant shortly after he was gunned down outside the busy station

He added that the suspect shouted Allahu Akbar – Arab for 'God is the Greatest' – during the attack.

He was estimated to be aged between 25 to 30 years and no had no identification papers on him. 

The soldiers were part of Operation Sentinel, a wide ranging security operation involving armed patrols dispersed all over France. 

In a statement, the Foreign Office said: 'Following an incident at Marseille St Charles train station we are advising British nationals in the vicinity to take care and follow the advice of the local security authorities.'

It is thought to be the latest in a long series of Islamic State atrocities across France and the rest of Europe.

French security services are pictured guarding the Gare de Marseille-Saint-Charles after today's deadly attack, which left two women dead, including one with a 'slit neck'

French security services are pictured guarding the Gare de Marseille-Saint-Charles after today's deadly attack, which left two women dead, including one with a 'slit neck'

A knife man shouting Allahu akbar stabbed two female passengers to death before being killed by the French army at Marseille's train station (pictured) today 

A knife man shouting Allahu akbar stabbed two female passengers to death before being killed by the French army at Marseille's train station (pictured) today 

Local prosecutor Xavier Tarabeux said the assault took place just before 2pm. 

As they dealt with the attackers, hundreds of rail passengers fled in panic, and there were fears that there might be a dangerous stampede.

'There was screaming and shouting, and people were running everywhere,' said one witness. 'People were picking up children, and trying to help those who weren't very good on their feet. They just wanted to get away.'

Another female witness called Hajar told FranceInfo: 'I heard two shots, that was what triggered the panic. People came out of a waiting room shouting 'Run! Don't stay in the station. Everybody outside.'

'I had just got to the station when everyone started running. People sitting on the terrace of a fast food restaurant came inside and shouted 'Run, get out! Then I saw a woman on the floor, they were giving her CPR.'  

One witness told local media he had just arrived at the station (pictured) when he heard two shots being fired

One witness told local media he had just arrived at the station (pictured) when he heard two shots being fired

The witness, named as Hajar, told FranceInfo: 'People came out of the waiting room shouting 'Run! Don't stay in the station! Everybody outside'

The witness, named as Hajar, told FranceInfo: 'People came out of the waiting room shouting 'Run! Don't stay in the station! Everybody outside'

Armed police officers and soldiers swarmed Gare de Marseille Saint Charles (pictured) after the attack early this afternoon

Armed police officers and soldiers swarmed Gare de Marseille Saint Charles (pictured) after the attack early this afternoon

French Interior Minister Gérard Collomb has announced he is travelling to Marseille in wake of the attack to liaise with anti-terror police chiefs.

A spokesman for Mr Collomb's department said: 'Anti-terrorist prosecutors have opened an enquiry, and the terrorist theory is privileged.'

France remains under a state of emergency following a series of attacks by Islamist radicals linked to Islamic State and Al-Qaeda.  

Passengers are pictured waiting outside Marseille's busiest train station, Gare de Marseille Saint Charles, after this afternoon's attack 

Passengers are pictured waiting outside Marseille's busiest train station, Gare de Marseille Saint Charles, after this afternoon's attack 

The attack took place at the Gare de Marseille Saint Charles (pictured) this afternoon

The attack took place at the Gare de Marseille Saint Charles (pictured) this afternoon

Marine Le Pen tweeted after the incident: 'All my solidarity with Marseille. Terrorism is an act of war against our country: we must fight it as such!' 

Earlier this month, four American college students were attacked with acid at the same train station in Marseille. 

At the time, French authorities said the assailant was suffering from a mental illness. 

TIMELINE OF TERROR: ATTACKS IN FRANCE SINCE 2012

  • March, 2012 - Mohamed Merah, an al Qaeda-inspired gunman, kills seven people in three separate shootings in Toulouse. Victims included three soldiers of North African origin, a rabbi and his two young children.
  • December, 2014 - A man shouting 'Allahu Akbar' (God is greatest) injures 13 by ramming a vehicle into a crowd in the eastern city of Dijon. Prime Minister Manuel Valls says France has 'never before faced such a high threat linked to terrorism'. 
  • January, 2015 - Two brothers kill 12 people inside the Paris offices of magazine Charlie Hebdo in a supposed retaliation for the publication's cartoons of Prophet Muhammad. More are killed subsequently in attacks on a kosher market in eastern Paris and on police. There are 17 victims in all, including two police officers. The attackers are killed.
  • June, 2015 - Frenchman Yassin Salhi, 35, kills and beheads his boss and displays the severed head, surrounded by two Islamic flags, on the fence of a gas plant in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier in southeastern France. He tries to blow up the factory, but is arrested. He commits suicide in jail in December.
  • November 2015 - ISIS militants kill 130 people in France's worst atrocity since World War II. A series of suicide bomb and shooting attacks are launched on crowded sites in central Paris, as well as the northern suburb of Saint-Denis. ISIS claim responsibility. It leads to the declaration of a state of emergency in France. Police powers are expanded. 
  • January, 2016 - A man wielding a meat cleaver and carrying an ISIS emblem is shot dead as he tries to attack a police station in Paris. Convicted of theft in 2013, the man identified himself at the time as Moroccan-born Sallah Ali. 
  • June, 2016 - Two French police officers are murdered in their home in front of their 3-year-old son. ISIS claims responsibility for the slaying, carried out by a jihadist with a prior terrorist conviction. He is killed at the scene. 
  • July, 2016 - Amid Bastille Day celebrations in the Riviera city of Nice, a large truck is driven into a festive crowd. Some 86 people from a wide variety of countries are killed. The driver is shot dead. ISIS again claim responsibility for the attack. The state of emergency in France is extended. 
  • July, 2016 - Less than two weeks later, attackers slit the throat of a priest in a hostage-taking at his church in the Normandy town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray. 
  • February, 2017 - A man armed with a machete is shot five times outside the Louvre museum after attempting to storm the historic art gallery. 
  • March, 2017 - Convicted criminal with links to radical Islam shouted 'I am here to die for Allah, there will be deaths' seconds before he was shot dead during an attack at Orly airport. 
  • June, 2017 - An Algerian man, 40, who had pledged allegiance to ISIS attacks a policeman with a hammer outside Notre Dame cathedral.
  • August, 2017 - A mentally ill 18-year-old is arrested at the Eiffel Tower after brandishing a knife and shouting 'Allahu Akbar' (God is Greatest). He later told investigators he wanted to kill a soldier.
  • September 2017 - French soldiers shot and a killed a man after he stabbed to death two women at Marseille's main train station.
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