Two women were stabbed to death and their assailant shot dead by a soldier in the southern French port city of Marseille today in what officials described as a "likely terrorist act".
Police sources said the suspect had shouted "Allahu Akbar"(God is greatest) in Arabic as he attacked the young women, aged 17 and 20, at Marseille's main railway station.
The so-called Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, the group's Amaq news agency said.
The assailant was shot dead by a soldier from a military Sentinelle patrol, a force deployed across the country as part of a state of emergency declared after Islamist attacks that began almost two years ago.
Some 200 police officers cordoned off the area in Marseille and all roads were closed to traffic.
"We have until now managed to avoid such dramatic incidents (in Marseille). I think it was a terrorist attack and the individual who was killed seems to have had several identities," Marseille mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin told reporters.
Speaking in Marseille, Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said the man had initially killed one woman and looked to be running away but returned to attack a second woman before soldiers from the Sentinelle force arrived on the scene and shot him dead.
Two police sources said the attacker had been carrying a butcher's knife, was around 30 years old and of North African appearance. One source said he was known to police for common law crimes, while another said digital analysis of fingerprints had come up with several aliases.
"This could be an act of terrorism, but we cannot confirm it fully at this stage," Mr Collomb told reporters.
Paris was rocked in 2015 by multiple attacks that killed 130 people. In 2016 a gunman drove a truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, killing 86 people. Both of these attacks were also claimed by IS.
Other countries, including Britain, Germany and Belgium, have also suffered attacks by militants using knives, guns, explosives and driving vehicles at crowds.
President Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter he was "disgusted by this barbaric act" and praised the calmness and efficiency of security forces.
French lawmakers are due to vote on a much-criticised anti-terrorism law on Tuesday, which would see France come out of its state of emergency in November, although some of the powers would be enshrined into law.
The number of military personnel on the ground is also due to be reduced slightly, although the force is being adapted to make it more mobile and its movements less predictable.
"The presence of Sentinelle soldiers, their speed and efficiency ensured that the death count was not bigger," police union official Stephane Battaglia said.
