A 20-year-old assailant fatally stabbed a teacher at a school in Arras, northern France, on Friday.

Two other individuals were seriously injured and fighting for their lives, according to President Macron.

French President Emmanuel Macron condemned this act as “barbaric Islamic terrorism.”

“The teacher who was killed stepped in and undoubtedly saved a lot of lives himself,” Macron stated while paying respects to the deceased teacher at the crime scene.

The attack occurred at the Lycee Gambetta-Carnot High School, where the assailant was a former student.

He was detained after the attack, and one of his brothers was also apprehended nearby. The case has been handed over to the anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office.

While the attacker’s motives were not entirely clear, he had previously been on a watchlist of individuals considered potential security risks, known as a “Fiche S.”

This list includes thousands of names, with only a small number actively monitored.

The assailant was identified as a Russian-born Chechen by a police source, although some French media referred to him as a Russian-born Ingush.

An older brother of the alleged attacker was serving time in prison for links to Islamist militant networks and glorification of terrorist acts, according to a security source.

This tragic event follows a series of Islamist attacks that have affected France over the years, including the 2015 Paris attacks.

In 2020, a teacher, Samuel Paty, was beheaded by a Chechen teenager after showing cartoons mocking the Prophet Mohammad during a class on freedom of expression.