Man stabs two in France over drinking alcohol during Eid

A MAN in Bordeaux, France, fatally stabbed one person and injured another before being shot by police as he attempted to flee. The incident happened on Wednesday in a tourist-frequented central area of the southwestern French city.

Frédérique Porterie, the Bordeaux public prosecutor, said that the Afghan migrant attacked the men after he saw them drinking alcohol during Eid, reported The Times.

"The attacker reproached the victims for drinking alcohol during Eid," Porterie told journalists. She detailed the sequence of events: "They told him it was none of his business, and he punched them before walking away. They threw cans at him and he returned and took out a knife."

Based on the survivor's and witnesses' accounts, the prosecutor said that the asylum seeker, who did not know the victims, stabbed one of them nine times, reported The Times. 

The survivor, seriously injured, said that neither he nor his companion, both Algerians from the same village, had previously encountered the assailant, the newspaper reported.

Despite the religious motivations apparent in the attack, Porterie said there was no evidence indicating it was a terrorist act. She said that the assailant's fingerprints were on file as part of a European database for asylum seekers and migrants. He was 25 years old and had not been considered a security risk.

Moments before the fatal stabbing, the assailant had initiated a confrontation with two other individuals over their consumption of wine near the crime scene, according to witness statements.

The attack adds to a series of violent stabbings in France in recent years. On February 3, a knife attack at the Gare de Lyon in Paris left three people injured, with police attributing the incident to the attacker's psychiatric issues, AFP reported.

This violence comes as France is under the highest level of security alert, with intensified measures in place ahead of the Paris Olympics. According to Reuters, a football match in Paris between Paris St-Germain and Barcelona was held under strict security following a threat from the Islamic State.