French government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux has confirmed that the Chechen-born knife attacker, who killed one and wounded four other people in a suspected terror attack in Paris on May 12, became a citizen of France in 2010, TASS reported.
"He gained citizenship in 2010 following his mother. He was registered in the database of Paris police among persons with propensity for radical actions in 2016," Griveaux told the RTL radio station on Sunday.
The knife attacker, named as Khamzat Azimov, who was born in Chechnya as media reported, was shot dead by police after carrying out the assault on Saturday evening. The stabbing attack took place at about 21.30 in Paris’ second arrondissement where the city's opera and prestigious residential areas are located. The attacker shouted ‘Allahu Akhbar’ as he lunged at pedestrians with a knife.
The Islamic State terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack.