French police are questioning Ayoub El-Khazzani, a 25-year-old Moroccan accused of carrying out Friday's attempted attack on a high-speed Thalys train between Amsterdam and Paris. The suspect is said to have links to the radical Islamist movement.
Security measures aboard Thalys trains have been stepped up. After a meeting of its national security council on Saturday, Belgium said mixed Franco-Belgian security patrols would be increased on board the Thalys trains, which link major cities in the Netherlands and Belgium to Paris. Patrols and security checks will also be boosted at international train stations, and more baggage checks will be carried out.
The suspect boarded the Thalys train in Brussels, and Belgian prosecutors are carrying out an anti-terrorism investigation of their own. The suspect, who is being questioned near Paris, was flagged up to French authorities by their Spanish counterparts in February 2014. He is reported to have lived in France, Spain, and Belgium and to have travelled to Syria.
The incident happened on a Thalys service near the northern French city of Arras on Friday. When a French passenger tried to enter a toilet, he encountered the gunman and tried to overpower him. A gun was fired and a French-American passenger was injured by the bullet. The gunman was carrying a Kalashnikov rifle, an automatic pistol with ammunition clips, and a box cutter knife, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Saturday.
Two American servicemen, Spencer Stone and Alek Skarlatos, were hailed as heroes for throwing him to the floor of the carriage, removing his guns and restraining him. A friend of theirs and fellow American, Anthony Sadler, and Chris Norman, a British man who lives in France, also helped restrain the attacker. Mr Stone and Mr Skarlatos are members of the US Air Force and the National Guard respectively. Mr Stone received cuts to his neck and hand but has now been discharged from hospital.
Those who prevented the attack are due to meet President Francois Hollande at the Elysee Palace on Monday. In a telephone call on Saturday, Mr Hollande thanked them for their actions which he said had helped prevent an extremely serious attack. The three US citizens and Mr Norman were awarded medals for bravery by authorities in Arras.
