France Train Gunman Arrested, Belgium Opens Anti-Terror Probe

Local Editor

A gunman has been arrested in northern France after a shooting incident on a train between Amsterdam and Paris.

Three people were wounded in the incident, two of them critically. French authorities say the incident is possibly terrorism-related.

A 26-year-old heavily armed gunman - a man armed with automatic weapons and knives reportedly - was involved in a shooting incident on a high-speed train from Amsterdam to Paris.

Two off-duty US marines overpowered the alleged attacker who had been under French police surveillance after foreign security services identified him as dangerous, a source with knowledge of the case and local media said.

There are also reports that a British person has been seriously injured. British authorities are saying they are aware of those reports and are urgently seeking information.

Furthermore, the train was then halted at Arras train station in northern France and police moved in and arrested this suspect. There are images of a man lying on the ground with his hands behind his back.

The suspect is now in police custody.

French newspaper La Voix du Nord said on Saturday Spanish authorities had pointed out the man to French police. It was not immediately clear whether he was still under surveillance at the time of Friday's attack.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said late on Friday that the French anti-terrorism prosecutor was investigating the incident and that the gunman's motives were not known. The gunman has told police he is of Moroccan origin.

Accordingly, Belgian prosecutors said Saturday they had formally opened an anti-terrorism probe after the Paris train incident.

"We have opened an inquiry under the anti-terrorism law... as the suspect boarded the train in Brussels," said Eric Van der Sypt, spokesman for the prosecutor's office.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team