Train attacker 'a suspected radical Islamist'

Speaking to reporters in Paris on Saturday, Bernard Cazeneuve urged caution about the identity of the gunman but said that he was suspected of being a member of a radical Islamist group.

"It is important to be careful about his identity which is not yet established with certainty," the minister said. "If the identity he has declared is confirmed, he is a 26-year-old man of Moroccan nationality identified by the Spanish authorities to French intelligence services in February 2014 because of his connections to a radical Islamist movement."

An armed man injured three people on a train traveling between Amsterdam and Paris on Friday. A group of young Americans – two of them off-duty soldiers - overpowered the assailant, preventing possible casualties. One of the Americans was among the two seriously wounded in the attack; a third is being treated for minor injuries.

The train stopped and discharged its passengers near the town of Arras in northern France following the attack at around 6:00 p.m. local time (1600 UTC). Local media said the suspect was armed with knives and firearms including a Kalashnikov-style assault rifle.

According to a Spanish official, who spoke to The Associated Press news agency on condition of anonymity, the suspect had travelled to Syria. The anti-terrorism unit official said the man lived in Spain until 2014, then moved to France, travelled to Syria, and then returned to France.

Meanwhile, Belgian authorities have opened an anti-terrorism case against the gunman.

"We have opened an inquiry under the anti-terrorism law... as the suspect boarded the train in Brussels," said Eric Van der Sypt, spokesman for the prosecutor's office.

US soldiers praised

French Interior Minister Cazeneuve went to Arras and commended the Americans: "Without their courage, we would have surely faced a terrible tragedy."

The US White House Press Office said in a statement: "Echoing the statements of French authorities, the president expressed his profound gratitude for the courage and quick thinking of several passengers, including US service members, who selflessly subdued the attacker."

President Francois Hollande issued a statement Friday night saying that "everything is being done" to determine what had happened on the train. The investigation is being carried out by France's antiterrorism authorities. Hollande also thanked the US soldiers and hailed them as heroes. The French president would receive "train heroes" at Elysee Palace "in the coming days," the presidential office said in a statement on Saturday.

shs/se (AP, AFP, Reuters)