French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has confirmed that the attack was “obviously of a terrorist nature”.
The attacker had been trying to gain access to the underground entrance to the museum, but was discovered. He pulled out a machete and injured one soldier when accosted.
The police authorities say the soldiers fired a total of five rounds, injuring the attacker.
Michel Cadot, the head of Paris’s police force, has told reporters the man shouted “Allah Akbar” when he injured one soldier “lightly”, and that no explosives were found in the backpack he was carrying.
In a statement, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, who visited the scene, has praised the “responsiveness and professionalism” of soldiers involved in the domestic protection Operation Sentinelle, who enabled “a very quick end to this assault and the protection of civilians nearby”.
Paris is competing with Los Angeles and Budapest to host the 2024 Games, which would be the French capital’s first Olympics in a century. Speaking outside the Louvre, AP reports, Hidalgo, who is expected to attend Friday’s bid ceremony, said that all of the world’s major cities are under threat with “not a single one escaping that menace”.
Francois Hollande called the attack “a savage assault”. The French president “reaffirms the state’s determination to act relentlessly to defend the security of our compatriots and fight terrorism, notably thanks to Operation Sentinelle, which has once again shown its effectiveness”.
Tourists being led out of cordoned off Louvre after the attack. The métro station Palais Royal – Musée du Louvre remains closed at this hour.
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