Terror inquiry after teacher ‘beheaded’ near Paris

A teacher has been beheaded in a suburb north-west of the French capital Paris, reports state, with the assailant shot dead by police.

The victim in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine was a teacher who showed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a classroom, media reports relate. The anti-terrorist prosecutor has been designated in to lead an inquiry.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, travelling to Morocco, is returning urgently to Paris.

France’s AFP news agency, citing police and prosecutors, said the victim had been decapitated.

A man wielding a large knife attacked the teacher, cutting off his head. The attacker then ran off, but local police alerted by the public were quickly at the scene.