World

French soldier stabbed outside Paris train station amid heightened Olympics security

A French soldier was stabbed outside a big train station in Paris on Monday, and the alleged attacker was arrested, officials said, while the city was under a high security alert 11 days before the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Soldier hospitalized but stable; alleged attacker arrested

A patch with French words is seen on a person's sleeve.
A soldier wears a badge for Operation Sentinelle at a military camp just outside Paris on Monday. A soldier for Sentinelle, France's domestic security, was stabbed outside a Paris train station on Monday. (Thomas Padilla/The Associated Press)

A French soldier was stabbed outside a big train station in Paris on Monday, and the alleged attacker was arrested, officials said, while the city was under a high security alert 11 days before the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics.

A French military official said the soldier was hospitalized but is not in life-threatening condition, adding that the reason for the attack is being investigated. The official was not authorized to be publicly named. The soldier was among thousands of troops serving in the Sentinelle force for France's domestic security.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin posted on X, formerly Twitter, that the soldier had been patrolling at the Gare de l'Est train station in eastern Paris and that the assailant was detained.

Paris is deploying about 30,000 police officers each day for the Olympics, which run from July 26 to Aug. 11, with a peak of 45,000 for the opening ceremony on the Seine river. About 18,000 members of the military are also helping ensure security.

Soldiers in the Sentinelle force have been targeted in the past.