armed, French nationality opened fire on the Kurdish cultural center Ahmet Kaya and a nearby Kurdish cafe in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, killed three people and wounded three others before he was finally arrested by the police.

The attack took place on Anjiem Street, at the height of the Kurdish Cultural Center, in a commercial area that is the center of life for the Kurdish community in the French capital.

The Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into “murder, manslaughter and aggravated violence”, and the investigation is currently entrusted to the 2nd Directorate of the Judicial Police.

“The target was the Kurds,” said Juan-Golan Elibert, an artist who works at the Kurdish cultural center.

Three people were killed in an armed attack on a Kurdish cultural center in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, Laure Bequio, the prosecutor of the French capital, said, adding that the attacker was known to the authorities.

Are the perpetrator’s motives racist?

The 69-year-old assailant is a French national, a retired train driver and is known for two assassination attempts in 2016 and December 2021, according to a police source. According to BFM TV, last year’s attack was against a migrant camp.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said it was investigating possible racist motives for the attack.

“The attack took place in the center of the Kurdish community on Angen Street, as well as in a restaurant and a hairdresser across the street,” Alexandra Cordebar, mayor of the 10th arrondissement, said at the scene of the attack. “The attacker received minor injuries and was taken to the hospital,” he added.

French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin tweeted that he was returning to Paris from northern France, where he had been.

At the scene of the attack, which was cordoned off by the police, the staff of the Ahmet Kaya cultural center shouted to the police: “It starts again, you are not protecting us, we are being killed.”

Kurdish-born journalist and activist Selma Akaya, who was present at the time of the attack, told AFP that there were “six injured,” including a “famous Kurdish singer.” According to her, the attacker shot at the hairdresser.

“We saw an older white gentleman turn around and fire at a Kurdish cultural center and then go to a barbershop next door. The staff and I hid in a restaurant,” said the owner of a nearby restaurant.

There are many restaurants, bars and shops in Rue Angers and its surroundings, and the sidewalks are usually full of people.

The Ahmet Kaya Center, after the famous Kurdish singer of the same name, is an association (French law 1901) aimed at the “progressive integration” of the Kurdish population living in France.

Source: APE-MPE-AFP-Reuters