The Paris prosecutor’s counter-terrorism unit have opened an investigation into the incident in Saint-Benoît, in the east of the island.
Reunion is east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, the most distant EU region and French department.
“This morning, two policemen in Réunion were wounded while arresting a dangerous individual,” according to a police spokesperson. “After responding to shots, the policemen managed to restrain the assailant.”
The suspect is said to be in his twenties and has recently converted to Islam. A search of the man’s apartment yielded several weapons and supplies to make Molotov cocktails, French Interior Minister Matthias Fekl said in a statement.
Local media reported that police had monitored the suspected terrorist for several weeks over extremist online activity. They raided the suspect’s house, in order to foil a terror plot. The counter-terror squad entered his home at around 6am local time on Thursday, but according to a local news website L’Info, they were greeted by an armed jihadist.
A gun battle ensued and one police officer was shot in the arm and another in the hand, in order to “neutralise” the suspect. Neither of the officers suffered life-threatening injuries and the suspect was later taken into custody.
All three wounded were taken to a hospital in Réunion.
Extremists have targeted French security forces, which have been deployed in greater numbers during the state of emergency. The attack on the Champs-Elysees come in the wake two other similar recent attacks on soldiers providing security at high profile locations in Paris: one at the Louvre museum in February and another at Orly airport last month.
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