Paris on alert as knife-wielding man shot dead in attempted attack

As he tried to enter the station, CNN reports the man reportedly shouted “Allahu akhbar”, or “God is great”, a common phrase among Muslims that has become synonymous with a suicide bomber’s final words.

The man was thought to be wearing an explosive vest, French newspaper Le Monde reports, but police have since said it was a fake device.

The man charged at armed officers outside the station in the Barbes neighbourhood of northern Paris, wielding a large butcher’s knife and wearing what was later discovered to be a fake bomb vest. A cell phone and a piece of paper with the ISIS flag were found on his body, along with a handwritten statement in Arabic.

“On Thursday morning, a man attempted to attack a policeman at the reception of the police station before being hit by shots from the police”, said interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet. The attacks left 20 people dead, including three terrorists.

“A few locals who live in flats around the police station managed to get into the area, but only after thorough searches from police sources”, said FRANCE 24’s Clovis Casali, who was at the scene. An anti-terrorism inquiry has been opened into the incident, Paris prosecutors said.

The incident happened minutes after French President Francois Hollande paid tribute to police officers killed in the line of duty, including those killed in the Charlie Hebdo attacks exactly one year ago.

In his speech, Mr Hollande said a “terrorist threat” continues to weigh on the country, and called for better surveillance of “radicalised” citizens who join jihadist groups before returning to France.