French anti-terrorism investigators scrambled Monday to identify a knifeman who used multiple aliases before killing two women at the main train station in Marseille in an attack claimed by Daesh (ISIS).
Sunday’s killings in France’s second-biggest city followed a string of stabbings around Europe claimed by, or blamed on Islamist radicals.
The identity of the attacker in Marseille, a man with a record of petty crime who was said by witnesses to have shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) at the start of his rampage, is still unknown.
Investigators said he appeared to be Tunisian but had gone by eight different names during various brushes with the law, including for shoplifting and illegal weapons possession.
Daesh’s Amaq propaganda agency later said he was “from the soldiers of [Daesh].”
The attacker was shot dead by troops from the 7,000-strong Sentinelle special force deployed to patrol the streets and guard vulnerable sites such as stations, tourist attractions and places of worship.