Gunman on Amsterdam-Paris train is on intelligence "black list"

PoliceFrance conducts investigation at the scene of the shooting - Photo: Reuters

US President Barack Obama warmly praised the US soldiers who successfully suppressed the extremist gunman who opened fire on a high-speed train from Amsterdam (Netherlands) to Paris (France).

The US Department of Defense confirmed that one of the two people injured in the attack was a US soldier. CNN said three US citizens, an air force soldier, a national guard member and a civilian, prevented the extremist gunman from carrying out a massacre on the train.

“The President expressed his deep gratitude for the courage and quick thinking of several passengers, including several U.S. service members, who successfully subdued the attacker,” the White House said in a statement. “Their actions clearly prevented a bloody tragedy.”

Extraordinary courage

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve also praised the Americans for "showing extraordinary courage in a very dangerous situation. Without their calm actions, we could have witnessed a terrible incident," Mr. Cazeneuve emphasized.

The 26-year-old Moroccan attacker, carrying an AK 47, a pistol and a knife, boarded the Amsterdam-Paris high-speed train with 554 passengers with a plot to commit mass murder.

AFP quoted a passenger named Damien as saying: "The man stopped between two carriages and fired. Then he returned to the 12th carriage and a man in a blue T-shirt with a shaved head jumped on him and pinned him to the floor." When the train stopped in the French town of Arras about 10 minutes later, more than 30 armed police boarded the train and arrested the suspect.

One victim was shot and taken to a hospital in Lille. The other suffered a knife cut to his elbow and was treated. It is unclear whether the two victims were involved in the attempted assault. The Pentagon said the US soldier's injuries were not life-threatening.

Once monitored by intelligence

French authorities revealed that the shooter had been on the radar of French intelligence. Spanish newspaper El Pais, citing intelligence sources, said he had lived in Spain for a year until 2014, when he moved to France. The newspaper also confirmed that he had traveled to Syria.

France has been on high alert since January 2015 when Islamic extremists carried out a massacre at the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket in Paris, killing 17 people.