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FRANCE

Man kills wife, sister, is shot by police in town near Paris

A knife-wielding man on Thursday killed his wife and sister, seriously wounding another person, before being shot dead by police in Trappes, a deprived town near Paris.

French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb at the scene of the attack
French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb at the scene of the attack REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer
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The man killed two people and injured a third at about 10.00am local time, before taking refuge in a house.

He later came out and threatened police who had arrived on the scene.

They shot him dead.

The two people he killed were his mother and sister, sources close to the inquiry told the AFP news agency, casting doubt on a claim by the Islamic State (IS) group that the assailant was one of their "combatants" responding to their call to attack nationals of countries in the US-led coalition fighting them.

He seemed to be mentally unbalanced rather than acting on behalf of IS, according to Interior Minister Gérard Collomb.

Known to security services

He was nevertheless known to security services for statements justifying terrorism made in 2016.

Trappes is believed to be the base of a radical Islamic network, about 50 of whose members to fight in Iraq and Syria, an anti-terror source told AFP.

It is one of 30 areas targeted by the government as needing "republican reconquest", meaning that its police force has been given extra personnel and resources.

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