The attacker in Paris had no criminal record, but was under surveillance

The attacker who killed one and injured several people with a knife last night in the center of Paris had no criminal record, but was under police surveillance for possible radicalization, French officials said.

One of his friends was arrested today and questioned in Strasbourg, according to the AP agency, adding that he was also born in 1997, but that the police did not announce his identity.

The police said that the parents of the attacker, a 18-year-old French citizen born in Chechnya, were detained for questioning. They were arrested in the XNUMXth arrondissement of Paris after the police killed their son.

Chechen President Ahmad Kadyrov identified the attacker as Hamzat Azimov, born in November 1997 in Chechnya.

The attacker killed one and wounded five passers-by with a knife, one of whom, a 29-year-old man, died. The attack took place in the second arrondissement of Paris, where the National Opera is located, in a district with many restaurants that is very popular on Saturday evenings.

According to the media, the attacker shouted "Allahu Akbar" before the attack.

Since 2015, France has been hit by a series of terrorist attacks that have killed several hundred people.

Islamic State terrorists claimed responsibility for the attack.