Eyewitnesses to the attack said the suspect was yelling “Allahu Akbar.” According to the prosecutor’s office he “was found on his knees on the pavement praying in Arabic” and was arrested without a struggle.

A Sudanese refugee stabbed several people in southeastern France on Saturday, killing two in what is being treated as a terrorist attack.

French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted, “All the light will be shed on this odious act which casts a shadow over our country which has already been hit hard in recent weeks.”

The attack took place as the country is in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

An investigation has been launched into “murder linked to a terrorist enterprise” after the rampage in Romans-sur-Isere, the Agence France Presse reported.

Eyewitnesses to the attack said the suspect was yelling “Allahu Akbar.” According to the prosecutor’s office he “was found on his knees on the pavement praying in Arabic” and was arrested without a struggle.

The assailant was identified as Abdallah A.-O., a man in his 30s who lives in the town.

David Olivier Reverdy, from the National Police Alliance union, said the attacker called on police to kill him when they arrested him, the report said. Religious documents were found in the suspect’s home with notes complaining “that he lives in a country of non-believers,” according to the national anti-terrorist prosecutor’s office.

The suspect received refugee status in 2017 and was not known to the authorities.