French security officials, who are already on a heightened state of alert, confirmed that the attack on Monday night was a terrorist act [Xinhua]
French President Francois Hollande convened an emergency security morning early on Tuesday just hours after two police officers were killed in what the government has labelled a clear-cut terrorist attack.
Police said that the attacker – Larossi Abballa – was a known affiliate of jihadist groups and had been previously jailed for three years on charges of recruiting for Al-Qaeda.
They say the 25-year-old terrorist attacked the male and female police officers, who were a couple and have a three-year-old child, outside their home in the suburb of Magnanville near Paris.
Abballa killed the policeman, who has not yet been identified by authorities, and then entered the home with the female officer and the child.
In a standoff with an elite anti-terrorism unit, Abballa purportedly claimed allegiance to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). A popular ISIL social media site said the attack was carried out by one of its own, but there has been no official claim of responsibility yet.
The female officer was killed but the child was rescued, authorities said.
France has been in a state of high alert since the November terrorist attacks which killed more than 130 people. It has coordinated closely with other European nations, such as Belgium, to pursue and neutralize suspected terrorists plotting other attacks.
In April, 26-year-old Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect of Paris attacks and believed to be the mastermind, was placed under formal investigation after being extradited from Belgium.
On Tuesday, the French interior ministry said it had apprehended some 100 suspects since the November 2015 attacks.
French security has also been heightened as the country hosts the month-long UEFA Euro 2016 football championship.
The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies
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