France has launched a counter-terrorism investigation into an attack on a policeman outside Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
A man armed with a hammer shouted “ this is for Syria” before injuring the officer and before being himself shot and wounded by other officers.
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Dozens of armed police sealed off the area and put the Gothic cathedral into lockdown with nearly 1,000 tourists and worshipers inside.
France’s Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said the attacker was carrying the identification of an Algerian student and preliminary information indicated he had acted alone.
“We realise we have gone from a sophisticated type of terrorism to people using any kind of weapon to commit acts of violence. We will consider prolonging the state of emergency and eventually add laws which will allow us to end the state of emergency and which will help us avoid this type of situation.
The incident comes just three days after militants drove a van into pedestrians in London before stabbing others in the street and in bars and follows a suicide bombing in Manchester.
Tuesday’s incident puts renewed focus on the struggle to deal with low-tech attacks in the countdown to parliamentary elections in both France and Britain.