Knife-wielding man attacks soldiers outside Jewish center in France

published 3 February 2015

Three soldiers patrolling a Jewish community center in Nice were wounded Tuesday after a man wielding a knife attacked them, according to French officials. The man, identified as Moussa Coulibaly (no apparent relation to Amedy Coulibaly, the perpetrator of last month's attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris), was captured by police after fleeing on foot.

On Jan. 28, Coulibaly flew to Turkey from the Corsican city of Ajaccio on a one-way fare — a known route for European jihadis looking to join the extremist groups in Iraq and Syria. French intelligence asked Turkish authorities to expel Coulibaly after identifying his travel route as suspicious. He had then been questioned upon his return to France, but authorities could not find sufficient information to open a legal investigation.

The soldiers had been patrolling the community center as part of the fallout from last month's terror attacks in Paris. An additional suspect has been arrested in connection with the incident, but a motive has yet to be determined.