Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption "The attacker was holding the soldier by her neck"

French security forces have shot dead a gunman as he attacked a patrol at Orly airport south of Paris.

Ziyed Ben Belgacem was killed after putting a gun to a female soldier's head saying he wanted to "die by Allah", officials say.

Earlier on Saturday the 39-year-old had been involved in a shooting and then a carjacking in the Paris area.

Belgacem had been reported as radicalised in the past, and was on a police watch-list.

His criminal record included convictions for armed robbery and drugs offences, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins told reporters.

He fell under the influence of Islamist radicals was while serving prison time.

The attack comes at a sensitive time. France has presidential elections starting next month and remains under a state of emergency.

The soldiers at Orly were part of Operation Sentinel - involving thousands of soldiers deployed to provide back-up to the police after the Charlie Hebdo attack in January 2015 and the Paris attacks of November 2015.

The sequence of events

Early on Saturday morning, Belgacem was stopped at a checkpoint in Garges-les-Gonesse, north of Paris, where he lives.

He fired at police with a pellet gun before escaping in a car that was later found abandoned.

Police say he then stole a car at gunpoint from a woman at Vitry, south of Paris. That car was later found at Orly airport.

Belgacem arrived at the airport and attacked the military patrol in the south terminal.

He tried to seize the servicewoman's automatic weapon, put his gun to her head and said: "I'm here to die by Allah. In any case, people are going to die."

He was then shot dead by two other soldiers.

Image copyright EPA Image caption A huge security operation is under way at the airport

A copy of the Koran was found on his body, Mr Molins added.

Intelligence agents searched his home in Garges-les-Gonesse for evidence of Islamist sympathies, but reportedly found nothing. However, traces of cocaine were discovered during the search.

The BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris says the picture is building up of a man on the criminal fringes of society, who also consorted with Islamist radicals.

Travel disruption

Orly - located 13km (8 miles) south of Paris - is the capital's second-largest airport.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Travellers were evacuated from the airport

Image copyright AP Image caption There were huge traffic jams outside the airport soon after the shooting incident

Image copyright AFP Image caption Police were quick to secure the airport after the shooting

Both the west and the south terminals were closed during the security operation. An estimated 3,000 passengers were evacuated.

Many flights were suspended, with some arrivals diverted to Charles de Gaulle airport.

But the terminals reopened later in the day and normal flight operations were said to be resuming.

Terrified witnesses

Ellie Guttetter, 18, from the US said: "We were sitting in Hall Three when all of a sudden people started running and telling us to run with them.

"The people running were passengers and flight attendants. It was pretty chaotic and everyone was panicking - it was scary."

Image copyright AP Image caption The shooting traumatised some passengers

Another eyewitness, Meredith Dixon, described seeing panicked airline personnel, with no security or police personnel to usher people outside the airport complex.

"It was complete chaos," she told the BBC.

"There were no alarms. No overhead announcements. No organised evacuation. People just began running."</s>PARIS — A man who tried to seize a soldier’s gun at Paris Orly Airport was involved in a carjacking and another shooting at a traffic stop, French authorities said Saturday.

Security forces opened fire, killing the man during the morning attack at the airport.

The attacker was known to police and intelligence services, and was involved in a shooting at a police traffic stop north of Paris that morning, Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux said at a news conference. He fled the scene.

A police officer injured during the traffic stop incident is undergoing treatment but is not seriously injured, he said.

The anti-terror prosecutor has opened an investigation, said Agnès Thibault-Lecuivre, spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor’s office.

At the airport, the attacker tried to tackle a female soldier and take her weapon, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said. He was shot dead by two of the soldier’s colleagues, who were on patrol with her.

They responded with “great professionalism,” he said.

This was the fourth attack against security forces deployed as part of France’s Operation Sentinel, Le Drian said. The national security operation was launched following the Paris terror attacks in January 2015.

Le Roux praised the swift response of security forces at the airport.

No one else was injured in the airport incident, interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said.

The traffic stop where his identity papers were checked was in Garges-lès-Gonesse, north of Paris, Thibault-Lecuivre said. The man later stole another vehicle at gunpoint in Vitry-sur-Seine, she said, on the southern outskirts of Paris near the airport.

He was born in 1978 and was known to police for armed robbery and drug trafficking, she added.

The airport was evacuated as an elite operations unit and bomb squad officers rushed to the scene. Local authorities said the bomb squad had finished its search for explosives.

Air traffic at both Orly South and Orly West remains suspended, the president of Paris Airports Augustin de Romanet said, adding that he discouraged people from coming to the scene.

The police also urged the public to avoid the airport, follow instructions and not to cross the security perimeter.

With roads around the airport closed off, some travelers earlier tried to make their way to the airport on foot with their baggage.

Air traffic has been suspended at the airport, with some flights rerouted to Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport.

Paris Orly Airport is France’s second-busiest airport, with international and domestic air traffic.</s>A man was reportedly shot dead by French soldiers after he tried to grab a soldier's gun at Paris Orly Airport, French officials said on Saturday.

Parts of the airport have been evacuated. Passengers were also not allowed to disembark after gunshots were heard at the airport, BBC reported.

A security operation is currently underway and bomb disposal experts have already reached at the spot. Police have warned people to stay away from the security cordon put in place by the officials.

The Interior Ministry has confirmed that the man was shot dead after he tried to seize a weapon from a French soldier.

"We confirm that the man, who tried to seize a weapon from a soldier, has been neutralized," the Ministry said. The identity of the deceased is still not known.

The Orly Airport is the second largest airport in Paris.</s>PARIS — The father of the man shot dead at Orly airport in Paris on Saturday after attacking a French solider has insisted his son was “not a terrorist.”

Ziyed Ben Belgacem held a gun on a female soldier while shouting: “I am here to die in the name of Allah … There will be deaths,” before two of the soldier’s comrades shot the attacker dead, a prosecutor told reporters.

But speaking to France’s Europe 1 radio Sunday, the father of Belgacem denied his son was a terrorist and instead blamed his actions on drugs and alcohol.

“My son was not a terrorist. He never prayed and he drank,” the father, who is not being named by French authorities, said.

“This is what happens under the influence of drink and cannabis.”

Belgacem was also accused of shooting a police officer earlier in the day when he stole the officer’s weapon. That officer has non-life-threatening wounds, officials said.

According to Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins, the suspect had been imprisoned several times on violence and theft convictions, including one five-year stint that began in 2009.

French terrorism investigators will lead the inquiry into the attacks, Molins said.

The father, who was released by police Sunday after being taken into custody, described how his son had called him after the shooting.

He described his son as being “very angry” and that he asked for forgiveness.

“He said to me: ‘Daddy, please forgive me. I’ve screwed up with a police officer,'” the father said.

“I said I didn’t forgive him ‘because you hurt a policeman.'”

While the father has been released by authorities, Belgacem’s brother and a cousin are still being questioned.

When Belgacem got to Orly Airport in the southern outskirts of Paris, he went to the South Terminal, carrying a weapon and a can of gas in his rucksack, Molins said.

He grabbed the female soldier and used her as a shield. They struggled over her weapon, the prosecutor said. With the soldier down on her knees, the suspect rose enough for the other two soldiers to shoot him several times. The whole scene unfolded in just a couple of minutes, Molins said.

According to Molins, Belgacem’s plans were unclear, adding that an investigation will determine whether he acted as a “lone wolf.”

An autopsy on Belgacem will go ahead on Sunday, including a toxicology examination to detect whether he was intoxicated with alcohol or drugs.

Molins said Belgacem was involved in several incidents before heading to the airport.
• 6:55 a.m.: Shoots police officer after being stopped for speeding and driving with headlights turned off near Stains, in northern suburbs of Paris.
• Time not given: Goes to a bar in Vitry-sur-Seine where he had been until 3 a.m. and fires four shots with gun stolen from police officer. No one is wounded.
• Short time later: Drives from bar (where he leaves cell phone), carjacks a new vehicle

About 16 minutes later, Belgacem assaulted the soldier.

Hours after the airport incident, police launched an operation in the same northern Paris suburb where the officer was shot, the National Police tweeted. The agency did not specify the reason for the operation.

Belgacem, who was born in 1978, was under supervision by authorities, Molins said, echoing Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux’s earlier comments that Belgacem was known to intelligence services.

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian commended the soldiers who responded to the airport threat.

They responded with “remarkable professionalism and self-control” to protect their colleague and the public, he said.

This was the fourth attack against security forces deployed as part of France’s Operation Sentinel, Le Drian said. The national security operation was launched following the Paris terror attacks in January 2015; France has been under a state of emergency since November that year.

Le Roux also praised the swift response of security forces at the airport.

President François Hollande said the incident demonstrated that the ongoing national security operation — which has placed extra security forces at airports, train stations and other public places — is “absolutely essential” to keep people safe.

“I want to salute the courage and the exceptional behavior of the security forces who managed to put away the individual and to do so in an extremely complex situation because this occurred in Orly Airport,” he said at a news conference.

The anti-terrorism prosecutor is investigating the motives and circumstances of Saturday’s attack and the existence of any accomplices, according to a presidential statement.

French presidential candidates, who are campaigning ahead of next month’s first round of voting, took to Twitter to pay tribute to the response by the police and the military.

Emmanuel Macron, an independent centrist, said the military “once again showed their professionalism this morning in Orly.”

François Fillon, of the centre-right Republican party, said: “Tribute to the men and women of Sentinel who work for our security and once again displayed courage and efficiency.”

Marine Le Pen, presidential candidate for the far-right Front National party, said: “France brimming over with violence, a consequence of the lax successive governments. But there is the bravery of our soldiers!”

The airport was evacuated as an elite operations unit and bomb squad officers rushed to the scene. More than 450 officers were involved in the operation to secure the airport and search for evidence, France’s National Police said.

Paris Airports, the group that manages the city’s airports, said both Orly terminals were reopening Saturday afternoon after a suspension of several hours. Travelers should check with their airlines before heading to the airport, it added. Some earlier flights were rerouted to Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport.

Travel for about 2,000 people had been severely disrupted, the president of Paris Airports, Augustin de Romanet, told CNN.

“It has been very disruptive, because we could fear many, many things, but all the police forces and the army have been very effective, so everything is OK now,” he said.

With roads around the airport closed off by police as the security operation unfolded, travelers had earlier tried to make their way to the airport on foot with their baggage.

Paris Orly Airport is France’s second-busiest airport, with international and domestic air traffic.</s>A man who tried to seize a soldier's gun at Paris Orly Airport on Saturday, March 18, was shot and killed by security forces. The man had been involved just hours earlier in a carjacking and a shooting at a police traffic checkpoint, French authorities said.</s>PARIS — The Latest on incident at Orly Airport in Paris where a man was shot to death after attempting to seize a soldier’s weapon (all times local):

French president Francois Hollande has praised the courage and efficiency of troops and police following the incidents at Orly Airport and in a northern Paris suburb.

In a written statement, Hollande reaffirms the state’s “determination to act without respite to fight terrorism, defend our compatriots’ security and ensure the protection of the territory.”

He says the Sentinelle operation —about 7,500 troops patrolling on the country’s streets and sensitive sites— has proved useful in addition to police forces.

The Paris prosecutors office says the suspected attacker killed at Orly Airport after trying to wrestle away a soldier’s weapon was 39 years old and was known to police for robbery and drug offenses. Prosecutors did not disclose the man’s name but said he was born in 1978 and nine unspecified infractions on his criminal record.

A spokesman for the military force that patrols public sites in France says the soldier attacked at Orly Airport was “shocked” but uninjured after the “very violent aggression” by a man who was quickly shot dead by two of her fellow patrolmen.

The spokesman, Benoit Brulon, was speaking to BFM television.

The Paris prosecutors office, which has taken over the investigation of the Orly Airport attack, says the suspected attacker who was shot dead was not listed on the government’s database of terrorist suspects.

France maintains a database, known as the “S” list, of people considered a potential threat to national security, which includes people suspected of plotting terrorist acts.

The prosecutors office says the man shot at Orly Airport was not in the database.

The head of the Paris airports company says searches of Orly Airport are complete and passengers who had been blocked aboard 13 flights are being unloaded.

Passengers aboard flights that landed at Orly as the drama was unfolding were prevented from immediately disembarking. But Augustin de Romanet, president of the ADP airport authority, says they are now being allowed off the flights.

He told BFM television that 15 other flights were diverted to Paris’ other main airport, Charles de Gaulle, because of the attack.

French authorities have established a rudimentary timeline for the attack on Saturday at Orly Airport:

—6:50 a.m.: The suspected attacker fires birdshot at police officers, wounding one in the face, when stopped for a traffic check. Flees, using a weapon to threaten a motorist and steal her car, later found at Orly Airport.

—8:30 a.m.: Attacker assaults patrol of three soldiers, all from French air force. Wrestles one soldier, a woman, to the ground, tries to take her weapon.

The investigation into the attack on soldiers guarding Paris’ Orly Airport, as well as a shooting 90 minutes earlier that targeted police north of Paris, has been taken over by anti-terrorism investigators.

The Paris prosecutors’ office confirms that its anti-terrorism section has taken over the investigation.

The French defense minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, says the Orly Airport attacker assaulted a patrol of three soldiers, all from the air force, including a woman.

He says the attacker wrestled the woman to the floor and tried to take her weapon, but she managed to keep hold of it.

The minister says the two other patrolmen opened fire “to protect her” and the public in the airport.

French Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux says the man shot dead at airport is the same as the one who “is linked with car hijacking” earlier in the morning in a Paris suburb. Le Roux says the man who was not identified, earlier shot a police officer at a traffic stop before stealing the woman’s car at gunpoint. Le Roux said the gunman was known by police and intelligence

French presidential hopeful Emmanuel Macron has paid tribute to the French troops securing streets and sensitive sites in the country after a string of deadly Islamic extremist attacks.

Macron, an independent centrist, said in a speech on defense in Paris that the soldiers of the Sentinelle operation who were attacked in Orly Airport “have demonstrated one more time calm, control and professionalism.”

France’s Interior Ministry says no one else was injured at Paris’ Orly Airport when a man was shot to death after seizing a soldier’s weapon.

The ministry tweeted that “the events this morning at the airport caused no injuries.”

Explosives experts have finished checking the site, according to a tweet from the regional administration.

The interior minister and defense minister are en route to Orly, according to the national police.

Thousands of people are being evacuated and flights are being redirected.

Paris police are investigating whether an attack on a soldier at Orly Airport is linked to a shooting earlier Saturday north of Paris.

The Paris police office says a man fired at police officers with a gun that fired birdshot, wounding one in the face, when stopped for a police traffic check early Saturday morning.

The man then fled, threatening a motorist with a weapon to steal her car.

Police say that car was later found close to the Orly Airport.

The traffic stop was at 6:55 a.m., shortly before the attack at Orly.

French national police say that only one man was involved in an attack on soldiers at Paris’ Orly Airport and reports of a possible second attacker are false.

A national police official said that about 3,000 people are being evacuated from Orly after the attack, in which the assailant was shot and killed.

Meanwhile, Paris police say a police officer was shot and injured during a road check in the town of Stains northeast of Paris on Saturday.

The national police official says so far there is no sign of any link between the Orly incident and the Stains shooting.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because neither was authorized to be publicly named.

Passengers at Paris’ Orly Airport describe gunshots and panic when a man was killed after seizing a weapon from a soldier guarding the site.

A witness identified only as Dominque said on BFM television: “The soldiers took aim at the man, who in turn pointed the gun he had seized at the two soldiers.”

Another man says on BFM that there was a group of three soldiers targeted, and they tried to calm the man who seized the weapon. Then the man said he heard two gunshots.

Another witness, identified as Patrick, said he was at the check-in counter when he saw someone come in from outside and the incident began.

A French journalist on a flight that landed from Nice told France-Info radio passengers are being kept on the plane and aren’t being allowed to disembark.

The Paris airport authority says Orly Airport is being entirely evacuated and all flights redirected after a man was shot dead after seizing a weapon from a soldier guarding the site.

An airport authority official says flights to and from Orly are being redirected to Charles de Gaulle airport.

The official said thousands of people are being evacuated from Orly.

A national police official says operations to check for explosives are underway at Orly after the Saturday incident.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because neither was authorized to be publicly named.

French media reports said the man seized the weapon and tried to flee before being shot.

French police say a man was shot to death after trying to seize the weapon of a soldier guarding Paris’ Orly Airport.

A national police official said the incident occurred Saturday morning at Orly, and the soldier is part of the Sentinelle special force installed around France to protect sensitive sites after a string of deadly Islamic extremist attacks.

No information about the slain man or any other injuries was available. The official was not authorized to be publicly named.

Police evacuated part of the airport and warned visitors in a tweet to avoid the airport while the police operation was underway.

The shooting came after a similar incident last month at the Louvre Museum. France remains under a state of emergency</s>French policemen evacuate Paris' Orly airport on March 18, 2017 following the shooting of a man by French security forces. (BENJAMIN CREMEL/AFP/Getty Images)

French policemen secure the area at the Paris' Orly airport on March 18, 2017 following the shooting of a man by French security forces. (BENJAMIN CREMEL/AFP/Getty Images)

Firefighters secure the area at the Paris' Orly airport on March 18, 2017 following the shooting of a man by French security forces. (BENJAMIN CREMEL/AFP/Getty Images)

A police officer stand near members of the RAID police unit officers outside the Paris' Orly airport on March 18, 2017 following the shooting of a man by French security forces. (BENJAMIN CREMEL/AFP/Getty Images)

A picture taken on March 18, 2017 shows tents used as the operational control center outside the Paris' Orly airport following the shooting of a man by French security forces. (BENJAMIN CREMEL/AFP/Getty Images)

Military officers secure the area at the Paris' Orly airport on March 18, 2017 following the shooting of a man by French security forces. (BENJAMIN CREMEL/AFP/Getty Images)

People wait outside the Paris' Orly airport after it was evacuated on March 18, 2017 following the shooting of a man by French security forces. (BENJAMIN CREMEL/AFP/Getty Images)

RAID police unit officers secure the area at the Paris' Orly airport on March 18, 2017 following the shooting of a man by French security forces. (BENJAMIN CREMEL/AFP/Getty Images)

Travellers are walking back to Orly airport, south of Paris, as flights are gradually resuming, Saturday, March, 18, 2017. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu)

Travellers are walking back to Orly airport, south of Paris, as flights are gradually resuming, Saturday, March, 18, 2017. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu)

Travellers are walking back to Orly airport, south of Paris, as flights are gradually resuming, Saturday, March, 18, 2017. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu)

ORLY, France — Soldiers at Paris’ busy Orly Aiport shot and killed a man who wrestled one of their colleagues to the ground and tried to steal her rifle Saturday, officials said.

Thousands of travellers were evacuated and at least 15 flights were diverted to the city’s other airport, Charles de Gaulle. No one else was hurt.

Police did not immediately provide a motive or identify the attacker, though the Paris prosecutor’s office said he was 39 and had a record of robbery and drug offences. The office said he did not appear in a French government database of people considered potential threats to national security.

Earlier Saturday, he fired birdshot at officers during a traffic stop in a Paris suburb, wounding one in the face. Then, Paris police said, he stole a woman’s car at gunpoint. It was found near Orly.

The prosecutor’s office said its anti-terrorism division was handling the investigation and had taken the attacker’s father and brother into custody for questioning.

A French official connected to the investigation confirms media reports identifying the Orly Airport attacker as Ziyed Ben Belgacem, a 39-year-old born in France.

The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to publicly discuss the suspected attacker’s identity.

France Info radio, on its website, identified him as Ziyed Ben Belgacem, which the official confirmed to the AP. Le Parisien newspaper named him only as Ziyed B. and said he was born in Paris.

The incident further rattled France, which remains under a state of emergency after attacks over the past two years that have killed 235 people.

French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the attacker, whom he did not identify, assaulted three Air Force soldiers who were patrolling the airport. He said the soldier who was attacked managed to hold on to her rifle and the two soldiers she was with opened fire to protect her and the public. A spokesman for the force later said she was shocked but not hurt.

It happened around 8:30 a.m. Paris time (0730 GMT) in a public area of the airport’s South Terminal, before passengers must show tickets or go through security.

Officials said about 3,000 people were evacuated from Orly, where passengers told of gunshots and panic. Traffic was jammed near the airport and people wheeled suitcases down the road.

People on 13 flights that landed around the time the drama was unfolding had to stay on planes for several hours. Augustin de Romanet, president of the ADP airport authority, said they were allowed off around noon, once a search of the airport was complete.

A witness identified only as Dominque told BFM Television that the attacker held the soldier by the throat and held her arm and her weapon.

“We saw it was a serious situation so we escaped,” he said. “We went down the stairs and right after we heard two gunshots.”

Taxi driver Youssef Mouhajra was picking up passengers at Orly when he heard shots, which he first thought were just a warning.

“We have become accustomed to this kind of warning and to having the soldiers there,” he said.

Then he said he saw people rushing out of the terminal.

“I told (the passengers) let’s get out of here,” he said. As he drove away, he saw soldiers and police rushing toward the airport.

The soldier who was attacked is part of the Sentinelle special force installed around France to protect sensitive sites after a string of deadly Islamic extremist attacks. The force includes 7,500 soldiers, half deployed in the Paris region and half in the provinces.

Saturday was at least the fourth time that Sentinelle soldiers have been targeted since the force was created. It was set up after the attack January 2015 attack on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and reinforced after the assaults that left 130 people dead in Paris in November of that year.

Orly is Paris’ second-biggest airport, behind Charles de Gaulle. It has both domestic and international flights, notably to destinations in Europe and Africa.

The shooting comes after a similar incident last month at the Louvre Museum in which an Egyptian man attacked soldiers guarding the site and was shot and wounded. It also comes just days before the first anniversary of attacks on the Brussels airport and subway that killed 32 people and wounded hundreds of others.

Leicester reported from Paris. Associated Press Writers Angela Charlton in Paris and Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen contributed.</s>An unidentified man has been shot and killed at Paris’ Orly Airport after wrestling a soldier to the ground and attempting to take her rifle on Saturday morning. According to a report from The Globe And Mail, nobody else was harmed, but thousands were evacuated from the airport and flights were diverted to other airports in the city.

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that the man attacked three Air Force soldiers who were on duty, patrolling the airport. The man tackled one of them and forced her to the ground, but she was able to hold onto her rifle, and her colleagues opened fire on the attacker, killing him instantly.

According to a report from Global News, the attacker was already a person of interest to French intelligence and Paris police. Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux said that the man had been linked to a carjacking earlier in the morning in a northern Paris suburb. Allegedly, he fired birdshot at police officers who stopped him for a traffic stop, causing a facial wound to one of them, then fled the scene, stealing a running car by threatening the driver with a weapon. Later, that car was found near Orly Airport.

An anonymous police source alleged that the man as a radicalized Muslim, but did not give his name.

After his attempt on the Air Force soldiers, police and special forces evacuated some 3,000 people from Orly amidst panic caused by the gunshots, then swept the airport for bombs, primarily on suspicion that the man might have been wearing a suicide belt. No explosives were found.

This story is still developing and The Inquisitr will continue to update as more information becomes available.</s>Security forces shot dead a man who seized a soldier’s gun at Paris Orly airport in France on Saturday soon after the same man shot and wounded a police officer during a routine police check, the interior minister said.

The man was known to police and intelligence services, Interior Minister Bruno le Roux told reporters. A police source described him as a radicalized Muslim but did not identify him by name.

READ MORE: 1 injured after letter bomb explodes at Paris IMF office

The busy Orly airport south of Paris was evacuated and security forces swept the area for bombs to make sure the dead man was not wearing an explosive belt, but nothing was found, interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told Reuters.

Noone else was injured at the airport.

Flights were suspended from both terminals of the airport and some flights were diverted to Charles de Gaulle airport north of the capital, airport operator ADP said.

Earlier, a police officer was shot and wounded by the same man during a routine traffic check in Stains, north of Paris.

The incidents came five weeks before France holds presidential elections in which national security is a key issue.

The country remains on high alert after attacks by Islamic State militants killed scores of people in the last two years -including coordinated bombings and shootings in Paris in November 2015 in which 130 people were killed. A state of emergency is in place until at least the end of July.

READ MORE: High school students in Paris stage mass protest against police violence

The attacks would have no impact on a trip to Paris by Prince William, second-in-line to the British throne, and his wife Kate, who are due to end a two-day visit to the French capital on Saturday, a British spokesman said.

The soldier whose gun the man tried to seize was a member of the army’s “Sentinelle” operation responsible for patrolling airports and other key sites since January 2015 when Islamist attackers killed 12 people at the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo. It was reinforced after the Paris attacks.

Around 3,000 passengers were evacuated from the airport, the second busiest in the country.

In March 2016, Islamic State claimed responsibility for suicide bomb attacks on Brussels airport and a rush-hour metro train in the Belgian capital which killed 35 people, including three suicide bombers.</s>Man killed after trying to grab soldier's gun at Paris airport

No one else in the busy terminal at Paris’s Orly Airport was hurt, but thousands of travellers were evacuated and flights were diverted to the city’s other airport.
French security forces shoot suspect Ziyed Ben Belgacem dead in Paris' Orly Airport after he put the pellet gun to her head and took away an assault rifle from one of three soldiers from "Sentinelle" operation patrolling the airport. Belgacem had earlier shot a police officer with a pellet gun. Later, he had threatened a bar and then carjacked another vehicle to the airport.