Police launch manhunt after masked man who invoked IS attacks teacher with box-cutter

French anti-terrorism authorities are investigating an attack on a teacher in a Paris suburb by a masked assailant who invoked the Islamic State group.

The assailant’s identity and motive remain unclear and a manhunt is under way, authorities said.

The attack comes as France remains under a state of emergency after the November 13 attacks in Paris by Islamic State-linked extremists left 130 people dead and wounded hundreds of others.

In French-language propaganda after the attacks, IS had urged followers to attack French teachers and school administrators, saying France’s secular education system was poisoning young minds.

Police officers patrol near a pre-school. Pic: AP

In Monday’s attack in the town of Aubervilliers, an assailant in a ski mask and gloves arrived at the Jean Perrin pre-school before class began and attacked the teacher with a box-cutter and scissors, said Philippe Galli, the top government official for the Seine-Saint-Denis region.

No children were present, only the teacher and other staff members, he told reporters outside the school.

French media said the teacher did not suffer life-threatening injuries.

Education minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem went to the school and promised to ensure security at schools around the country.

“It’s an act of great gravity,” she said.