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Swiss police to expel two Marseille knife attackers

Border guards in Chiasso
Border guards in Chiasso on the Italian border last July Keystone

Swiss police are deporting a Tunisian couple wanted in connection with a deadly knife attack in France. The man and woman were arrested on Sunday in the reception centre for asylum seekers in Chiasso, on the Swiss-Italian border. 

The Federal Office of Police (FEDPOL) confirmed the arrestsExternal link on its website on Tuesday, explaining that the man is the brother of the alleged knifeman, 29-year old Tunisian Ahmed Hannachi, and is known to foreign police forces for his connection to jihadist terror organisations. 

Ahmed Hannachi was shot dead by a French soldier after killing two young women outside the Marseille station in southern France on October 1. Authorities are investigating the attack as a “probable” terrorist act. 

Regarding the man arrested in Chiasso on Sunday, FEDPOL said his role in the Marseille attacks – if indeed he had one – remains unclear. By Tuesday evening, FEDPOL announced that it would deport the couple for security reasons, sending them back to Tunisia.

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