A man has been arrested after attempting to storm the Eiffel Tower with a knife.
The world-famous tourist site was evacuated and put on lockdown at around 9.30pm on Saturday after the knifeman brandished a blade and shouted “Allahu akbar”.
He was quickly mobbed by security officials and detained. No shots were fired and no one was hurt, a Paris police spokesman said.
Police have now opened a counter-terrorism probe after the suspect reportedly told police he had planned to kill a soldier and was in contact with the Islamic State group who had encouraged the attack.
But the suspect, a French national born in Mauritania in 1998, is thought to have psychiatric problems. He was given temporary permission to leave hospital this weekend.
The entire tower was evacuated so officers could search the tourist spot.
According to Reuters, the suspect did not resist when soldiers told him to put down his weapon.
In an interview published on Sunday, France’s interior minister said the threat of attacks from militants was “very high”.
French police have had extended powers since the terror attacks in November 2015 which left 130 people dead.
