A terrorist attack in France killed five people and injured 13 locals at “Le Marché de Noël de Strasbourg” last Tuesday night.

 Chérif Chekatt was being chased since December 11 at 8:00 pm (local time).  The jihadist has been a “fiche S”, that means he’s being watched by the French government, for his Islamic radicalization. He also had a Ben Laden poster in his cell.

Witnesses tell that he screamed “Allah Akbar” (God is the greatest, in Arabic) and started to shoot on passers and stabbing others. At least five deaths have been reported, a 45 years old Thai and four others have died. He has been shot dead on the December 13th.

Native of Strasbourg, the 29 years old radical was armed with an 8mm revolver and a knife. He was known to the authorities for previous criminal offences. His dad would say to him, “Chérif don’t shoot, it’s your dad”.

He succeeded in taking a taxi while he was shot and injured by the military. He’s been tracked for two days by 700 French officers in France streets. German, Swiss and Luxembourg police were also looking for the terrorist attacker.

It’s not the first time that Strasbourg has been targeted by terrorists. Back in 2000, they attempted to deal damage with bombs at the Strasbourg Cathedral also known as the center of Strasbourg Christmas market.

The Christmas market opened their doors about 48 hours after the shooting with maximal security and modified schedules. Some vendors said “we receive a lot of sympathy messages, it’s encouraging.”

Written by Frédéric Dignard

Edited by Thomas Lapierre