France launches terrorism investigation after knife attack

French police have launched a terrorism investigation after two people were killed and five wounded in a knife attack in Romans-sur-Isère.

The attacker entered a tobacconist shop in the south-eastern town, near Grenoble, on 4 April and stabbed the owners and a customer, before then attacking more people at two other shops before being arrested.

The suspect, a Sudanese refugee in his 30s who lived in the town, was reportedly ‘found on his knees on the pavement praying in Arabic’ upon his arrest. He was not previously known to the police or intelligence services. French police say that two other people have also been arrested.

Counter terrorism prosecutors in France have announced that they had launched an investigation into ‘murder linked to a terrorist enterprise’.

In a statement, the prosecutor's office said initial investigations suggest the attacker had ‘a determined murderous course aimed at seriously disturbing public order by intimidation or terror’.

French President Emmanuel Macron described the attack as an ‘odious’ incident that further saddened a country already going through an ordeal.