Louvre attack: Machete-wielding suspect recovering

Media caption“France is strong” – Tourist at the Louvre museum in Paris

A suspected militant shot by French soldiers as he carried out a machete attack at the Louvre museum in Paris is said to be recovering from his wounds.

The man, identified as a 29-year-old Egyptian, is no longer in a critical condition, AFP news agency quotes a police source as saying.

However it says he is still unable to communicate and cannot be questioned.

He was shot in the stomach while attacking the soldiers shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest”) on Friday.

The incident occurred at the entrance of a underground shopping centre leading to the Louvre, home to the Mona Lisa and other celebrated works of art.

Hundreds of visitors were inside the museum at the time. The attack led to an evacuation, but the Louvre reopened on Saturday morning.

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AFP

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Crowds returned to the Louvre as it reopened to a day after the attack

French officials have not confirmed the identity of the suspect, but Egyptian security sources have named him as Abdullah Reda al-Hamamy.

He arrived in France on 26 January after obtaining a tourist visa in Dubai, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said on Friday.

Police are trying to establish if he acted alone or under instructions, he added.

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Timeline: Attacks in France

President Francois Hollande praised the soldiers’ actions, saying they had “prevented an attack whose terrorist nature leaves little doubt”.

The suspect is believed to have bought two machetes after arriving in Paris.

The guards on patrol outside the museum were just some of the thousands of troops lining the streets as part of the stepped-up response to a series of attacks in France since 2015.

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EPA

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The Louvre has seen heightened security since France has been hit by a wave of attacks in recent years

A series of assaults by gunmen and suicide bombers claimed by so-called Islamic State killed 130 people in November 2015.

In January of the same year, 17 people were killed in an attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine and linked shootings.

Last July, 86 people were killed when a lorry ploughed through crowds celebrating Bastille Day in Nice.

Security has become a theme of the French presidential election in April, which sees far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist independent Emmanuel Macron leading the polls.

Louvre attack: Machete-wielding suspect recovering