Knifeman kills mother, sister; IS claims attack

Paris : A man stabbed his mother and sister to death and seriously injured another person in a town near Paris yesterday before being shot dead by police. The killer had serious mental health problems and had been on a terror watch list since 2016, Interior Minister Gerard Collomb told reporters after visiting the scene in the town of Trappes.

The motive for the violence remained unclear despite a claim by the Islamic State group that it was an attack by one of its fighters responding to the terror organisation’s propaganda. Collomb said the attacker was “mentally unstable, rather than someone who was committed, who would respond to orders from a terrorist organisation, in particular Daesh,” another name for IS.

Regular French criminal prosecutors are investigating the case rather than anti-terror specialists, Collomb stressed, although checks on the knifeman’s phone and computer were under way. Experts have urged caution about recent IS announcements because it has lost credibility after claiming responsibility for seemingly unrelated violence as it faces defeat on the battlefield in the Middle East.