Was Paris attacker fleeing to BRITAIN? Terror suspect ‘fled French capital… only to be gunned down by cops on motorway near Calais’
Algerian named as Hamou Bachir hit by FIVE bullets and 'seriously wounded' in gunfight with cops near Channel port.
NEWS that a terror suspect who mowed down five soldiers in a Paris suburb was arrested just miles from Calais has sparked fears he may have been heading to Britain.
The Algerian, identified by theas Hamou Bachir, was hit by FIVE police bullets and "seriously wounded" just before 2pm in a gunfight with police officers near the cross Channel port.
The attacker – who targeted the troops near the headquarters of France’s anti-terror unit – was arrested on the A16 highway just 40 minutes away by car from the port that connects France and the European mainland to the UK
has discovered that the A16 – where the suspect was arrested – is the quickest route from the capital to jumping on a ferry to the UK..
Bachir - who also uses the name Benlatreche – ploughed into a uniformed and heavily armed unit of the 35th Infantry Regiment as they took part in Operation Sentinel.
The security initiative was set up in 2015 following a series of atrocities in Paris carried out by Islamic State and Al-Qaeda operatives.
Bachir was not known to the security services, but was subject to a "foreigner infraction" notice, and faced deportation to Algeria, the North African country that used to be French colony.
He was lurking as two three-man patrols swapped shifts, and then he approached them slowly "before speeding up," said Mr Balkany.
Three of the troops were badly hurt, and taken to a nearby military hospital, while the others were treated at the scene.
"The attacker didn’t say a single word and did not fire any guns," said an Armed Forces ministry spokesman in Paris.
The spokesman said that the BMW – with only one man a white shirt inside – was then seen racing away.
Its number plate was picked up by video surveillance cameras, enabling police to establish that it was a hire car with an integrated GPS system.
This meant tracking by was relatively straightforward, and by early afternoon it was spotted on the A16 motorway, as it raced towards Calais.
Two specialist firearms units from Lille and Rouen engaged at 1.30pm close to Boulogne-sur-Mer.
They stopped the BMW at a Total service station, and told him to get out of the car with his hands up.
Instead, the suspect is thought to have a made ‘a sudden movement’ as if he was taking a gun out, and then he tried to escape.
"He was hit by five police bullets, while an officer received a slight wound to his thigh," said another source close to the case, indicating that the suspect was unarmed.
"The man was severely wounded, and taken to intensive care in a nearby hospital. He is under close guard," said the same source.
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French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe confirmed that police had arrested the suspect behind the attack.
"A suspect who was driving the car involved in the attack has been arrested on the highway between Paris and Boulogne-sur-Mer," Philippe told lawmakers during parliament question time.
When contacted by Daily Star Online, the National Counter Terrorism Security Office declined to comment.