Tragedy struck a school in France as a teacher was killed and two others were left in critical condition following a knife attack.
The incident unfolded at Gambetta High School in the northern city of Arras at 11:00 local time (09:00 GMT).
The culprit has been arrested and is currently being held by the authorities.
Witnesses present during the attack claimed that he yelled “Allahu Akbar” or “God is greatest.” President Emmanuel Macron, while visiting the school, condemned the “brutality of Islamist terrorism.”
Mr Macron said the teacher had ‘come forward to protect others and had without doubt saved many lives’.
In his address, Mr. Macron appealed to the people of France to stand “united” against the attack and to “refuse to succumb to terror or allow any divisions to emerge.”
He announced that law enforcement had thwarted another attempted attack in a separate location within France.
The deceased individual was a teacher specialized in French language, and the injured parties included another teacher and a security guard.
Mr Macron said the teacher had ‘come forward to protect others and had without doubt saved many lives’.
Law enforcement officials disclosed that the assailant, identified as 20-year-old Russian national Mohamed Mogouchkov, has Chechen origins and was already known to security services for his association with radical Islam.
Teachers were disturbed by his indications of Islamic radicalism, especially considering his history as a former pupil at the school.
The French anti-terror prosecutor’s office says it has opened an investigation following the attack for “murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise” and “attempted murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise”.
It has been reported by BFMTV that the police have taken the attacker’s brother into custody.
According to the authorities, the situation has been brought under control.
The attack takes place against the backdrop of heightened tensions within France’s sizable Muslim and Jewish communities, stemming from the Israel-Hamas conflict.
However, the police have clarified that there is no indication of any link to the Middle East.
It has been almost three years since the murder and beheading of another teacher, Samuel Paty, at his school in the outskirts of Paris, prior to the recent attack.
The perpetrator of that attack, identified as 18-year-old Abdullakh Anzorov, a Russian Muslim refugee, was quickly gunned down by the police.