A man shouting “Allahu Akbar” stabbed a rabbi in Strasbourg, France on Friday, sparking renewed fears of radical Islamist attacks across Europe.
The attack occurred in the Jewish quarter of the city, near the Great Synagogue of Strasbourg, the city’s Chief Rabbi Rene Gutman told AFP. Witnesses said they heard the attacker shouting “Allahu Akbar.”
The victim, a 62-year-old Hasidic rabbi, was stabbed in the abdomen near a vital organ, according to Mendel Samama, another Strasbourg rabbi, who visited the victim at the hospital. His current condition is unknown.
The suspect, who was arrested, previously assaulted a Jewish person in the city in 2010, Gutman said. French police said the man has a criminal history and that he has mental issues.
While Gutman said the attack “in no way reflects the prevailing climate in Strasbourg” and its large Jewish community, it comes on the heels of many Islamist shooting, stabbing and bombing attacks across Europe in recent months.