France attacks: man shouts 'Allahu Akbar,' assaults two people; knife-wielding man attacks soldier

A knife-wielding man attacked a French soldier Friday and, in a separate attack in France, two women were assaulted by a man with a hammer who shouted “Allahu Akbar."

In Chalon-sur-Saone two women were injured when they were attacked by a man with a hammer. Onlookers said the man shouted “Allahu Akbar” during the incident. Police said they were searching for the suspect, French media reported.

Gilles Platret, the mayor of Chalon-sur-Saone, wrote on his Facebook: “The police forces launched a vast search operation of an individual who this morning committed two assaults on Chalonnais, wounding them with a hammer, which explains why a helicopter of the gendarmerie is currently turning over our town.”

Earlier Friday, a knife-wielding assailant tried to attack a soldier in a large Paris subway interchange. The assailant was quickly arrested and no one was injured.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said counterterrorism investigators have opened a probe into the incident at the Chatelet station in central Paris, based on a preliminary examination of the attacker’s background and the method and target of the attack.

The knife-wielding assailant tried to attack a soldier who was with a special military force assigned to protect prominent sites following deadly Islamic extremist attacks. The attacker was quickly arrested and no one was hurt.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.