Teacher stabbed in Paris school by man citing IS

A teacher was attacked in a school on Monday morning in a northeastern suburb of Paris by a man who cited the Islamic State armed group (IS).

A police officer in front of the school in Aubervilliers where a teacher was attacked, 14 December 2015 AFP/Jacques Demarthon

The teacher, aged 45, was stabbed in the side and throat just around 7 in the morning in Aubervilliers just before pupils arrived in the classroom.

The attacker was wearing military boots, painter’s overalls and a mask. He arrived without a weapon but grabbed a cutter and a pair of scissors that were lying in the classroom.

The police reported that the attacker shouted IS warning before fleeing,

Although the teacher’s life is not in danger, the probe has been taken over by the anti-terrorist investigators. The local prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation over attempted homicide in relation to a terrorist undertaking.

The French Minister of Education Najat Vallaud-Belkacem visited the school, condemning “the seriousness of the act”.

“We will continue to strengthen security measures at school with support of the Interior Ministry,” she said.

Additional security measures have been boosted at schools since the November Paris attacks.

“The terrorist threat remains very real and all public places need protection, particularly schools,” Vallaud-Belkacem had said last week.

Last month, the Islamic State armed group’s French-language magazine Dar-al-Islam called for its followers to kill teachers in France, describing them as “enemies of Allah” for teaching secularism.

This is not the first time a school has been targeted in France. In March 2012, Mohammed Merah carried out an attack on a Jewish school in the southern city of Toulouse and murdered seven people.